Child Of The Whitelighter
by itsonlyme
Summary: Caitlin Dorian has never known her birth father. Could a chance meeting with the Charmed Ones at P3 change Caitlin's life and the life of someone close to the Charmed Ones forever? This is my first fanfic, please R&R! Flames accepted!
1. Chapter One

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
"Caiti, wake up!"  
Caitlin Bryant Dorian woke up with a start, and called "I'll be out in a sec" to her mother. The blonde haired, blue eyed 18 year old snapped her fingers, and watched with delight as the comforter flew off her body and onto the end of the bed. "That's better than last week," Caiti thought, remembering when she caused the comforter to fly off her bed and into the bookshelf. She smiled as she thought of the day ahead of her. Today was the big day, the day her band had an audition at a local club, and the best part was that her mother had promised to be there to cheer her and the other members of Awakened at Dawn sing their hearts out onstage for the first time. "But first," she thought, "I have to get ready, and to get ready, I need to get out of bed!" Caiti climbed out of her bed and plodded down the hall to the bathroom for a nice hot shower. When she had finished, she snapped her fingers and was in her room again. Another snap of the fingers and her hair and body were dried, one more snap and she was dressed in a black spaghetti strap tank top with pink curlicues and a pair of black jeans, her "official bandwear," as her and her friends called the outfits they wore when they performed. Suddenly blue and white light orbs appeared in her room, and her mother was standing in front of her. Jeanne Williams Dorian had taken care of her daughter ever since her husband had been killed in a car accident back in Pennsylvania. Even her own death in a car accident 3 months after she moved her and Caiti to San Francisco had not hindered her careful watch over her daughter, due to the Powers That Be giving her the job of being her daughter's whitelighter. The accident had left her unrecognizable in death, and as she had no ID on her at the time, no one knew that she was the unrecognizable Jane Doe from the accident, making her job all the more easier. Jeanne looked at her daughter and smiled, thinking of how she looked like her father, who she had not seen since the day Caiti was conceived and who had been a whitelighter with clipped wings at the time, but had recovered his powers and never knew about Caiti's existence, and wondered where he was.  
"So," said Jeanne. "Your first big audition, and at a real club too. You must be nervous."  
Caiti smiled. Her mother always knew what she was feeling. She guessed it was part of being a whitelighter. "I'm not just nervous, Mom. I'm beyond nervous, if there's anything that goes beyond nervousness."  
Jeanne walked over to her daughter and took her hand, patting it lovingly. Then, in a flash of blue and white orbs, she took her daughter down to the garage so they could get a move on, as Caiti sometimes said. While Jeanne opened the garage door and started her new Mustang Convertible- a different Mustang from the one that was totaled in the car accident, this time remembering her seatbelt, something she had started to do only since the accident-Caiti went into the side room to get her baby blue and white electric guitar, and after finding its case, loaded it into the trunk of the Mustang, and got in on the passenger side, buckling her seatbelt. As they pulled out of the Mustang's side of the garage, they passed a VW Van painted blue with clouds, Caiti's car, or "The Cloudmobile" as they had christened it.  
"So, are Janna, Mike, Jacob, Lucy, and Serena going to meet you there?" asked Jeanne as they started to drive away.  
"Yeah, they're taking Mike's Caravan so they have room for the drum kit and the guitars. Mike called ahead and found out that the club already has speakers and microphones, so we don't need to use his speakers or Lucy's microphones."  
"Ok, now that that's straightened out, on to the next question. Do you have the club's name and address with you, so we know where we're going?"  
Caiti held up a piece of paper with some writing on it. "Right here mom, got it right here."  
"So, what's this club's name Caiti?"  
Caiti looked at the scrap of paper in her hand that had the name and address of the club on it and replied, "P3." 


	2. Chapter Two

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
CHAPTER TWO  
  
"Phoebe, Paige, hurry up! We have to be at the club in 5 minutes!" Piper Halliwell yelled upstairs to her sisters. Normally she would have been at the club already, but today was different. Today she was going to watch a new local band called Awakened at Dawn audition for the job as house band of P3, and she needed her sisters' opinions before she made her decision. Phoebe, Paige, and Piper's husband Leo had all agreed with Piper when she decided to stop going through the trouble of trying to book big name music acts for the club-trouble that included the manager of a band she had hired being evil and trying to kill them all-and to get a house band that would play the club every night without hassle or evil managers. The band she was hearing today was a group of 18 year olds who had been friends for a long time and had started the band in their hometown. Piper looked at the application again. It said that the band had broken up when one of their lead singers/guitar players had moved to San Francisco after her father's death, but had reunited when the other members moved to 'Frisco to be close to her while she tried to deal with her father's passing. "Wow," thought Piper. "These kids really know how to treat a friend." The sound of her sisters coming down the stairs interrupted her thoughts. "We're ready!" said Phoebe, Piper's younger sister. "Let's go!" "Wait a minute," said Paige, the youngest sister, called from inside the closet. "I can't find my shoes!" Piper and Phoebe smiled at each other. Ever since they could remember, it had been Piper, Phoebe, and their oldest sister, Prudence-Prue for short- being the Charmed Ones, together fighting evil and saving innocents. But Prue had died, killed by the demon Shax when Phoebe, Leo, and Phoebe's demon ex Cole made a deal with a demon to reverse time to save Piper, who had been killed first. This time around, Leo had been unable to save Prue after saving Piper, and the Power of Three had been temporarily destroyed. Then, when Piper-in her grief-tried to summon Prue, she accidently summoned her and Phoebe's mother and grandmother. Phoebe and Leo, who had been looking for Piper, had come up to the attic in time to witness Piper's shock when Patty and Grams had appeared instead of Prue. While Piper and Phoebe listened in total and complete disbelief, Patty explained to them that they had a younger half-sister, Patty's child from her affair with her whitelighter Sam, a daughter named Paige. When they found Paige, she didn't immediately take to being a witch, much the same as Piper didn't immediately take to Paige. But eventually, everything worked out, and there they were, 2 years later, getting ready to go to the club and hear the auditioning band. Suddenly, two streams of blue and white orbs appeared, and Leo, Piper's husband, and Chris, Phoebe and Paige's whitelighter, were standing before them. "So, what's the story on this band we're all seeing?" asked Chris. "Well," said Piper. "They're called Awakened at Dawn, and they're going to wonder where the hell we are if we don't get moving!" "Geez, just asking!" said Chris, putting his hands up in mock self-defense. "Don't we have any info on them?" Leo picked up the band's application that Piper had left on the hall table and handed it to Chris. "This might give you the info you're looking for." Chris read the application and whistled. "Boy, these kids sound like they'll be headed for a break-up worthy of 'Behind the Music' in a few years. How long have they been together?" he asked as he handed the paper back to Leo. "6 years. They started the band when they were all in 7th grade," Leo read off the paper. "They broke up for a bit when one of the lead singers' father died in 12th grade and her mother moved her here, but they got back together about 3 ½ months ago when the rest of the band moved out here to be with her for support." "So," Chris asked. "Who are these kids anyways?" "Human," said Paige sarcastically, getting a laugh from Piper and Phoebe. "No, I mean names. What are their names and what do they do in the band?" said Chris with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Leo looked at the paper and said, "OK, we have 3 girls, 2 boys. Janna Allen is a lead singer, also plays fender acoustic and tambourine. Mike Walters plays drums. Jacob Danvers plays keyboard, sometimes the harmonica when needed. Serena Freedman is a lead singer and plays bass guitar, and Caitlin Dorian is a lead singer and plays electric guitar. She's the one who moved here when her father passed away." "OK, OK, enough with the background information," said an exasperated Piper. "Paige, have you found your shoes yet?" Paige nodded. "OK then, let's go!" With that they all went out the door, except Leo. "Leo, you coming?" asked Phoebe. "In a second." "Well then, could you grab the application on your way out? Piper left it on the table." "OK." Leo read the names on the application again. He stopped when he came to Caitlin Dorian. He went through the pictures attached to the application, reading the backs until he found Caitlin's picture. He stared at the picture of the blonde haired, blue-eyed girl and said "I wonder if- no, it can't be. It can't be the same Dorian." Piper came in the door and said "Leo! Let's go!" Leo looked at the application and the picture, and said "OK." as he walked out of the door, application in hand, all the while thinking, "It can't be the same Dorian, it just can't be."  
  
oooooh! cliffhanger! well, if you want to find out what happens, you gotta review! but i'll give you a little taste of what's coming up! Next: The band arrives for the audition, and Jeanne makes a startling revelation to Caiti regarding her father. Meanwhile, Leo must face a mistake he made in his past with regards to Jeanne. 


	3. Chapter Three

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
mrs.shigwa.cobain-thanks! I think you will enjoy where this is going, and if you haven't figured it out who her father is already, you will soon!  
  
A/N: if at any time during the story you see a row of these: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ it means that there is a scene change. I will be using them a lot during the first part of this chapter. This chapter is also rated PG for language. It's also kind of long, but for a good reason!  
  
CHAPTER THREE  
  
By the time Caiti and Jeanne reached P3, the other members of Awakened at Dawn were standing outside the doors waiting for them. Caiti got out of the car first so she could go inside with the band and get set up. She got her guitar out of the trunk, and went to join her friends while Jeanne parked the Mustang. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo, and Chris had arrived at the club and were inside when they heard voices that sounded an awful lot like a group of teenagers playfully arguing. "I guess that's them," said Piper. As the voices got closer, they were able to hear a bit of what was going on, hearing first the voices of two males. "OW!!! Mike, you dropped the freaking drum on my foot!" "Sorry man, not my fault that the drums are heavy!" "Well maybe if you bulked up a bit it wouldn't be so hard to carry!" Then a female voice said, "Mike, Jacob, quit it! You ever think that the people that own this place could hear us?" "Sorry, babe." "Yeah sorry Janna. It's just that your boyfriend's a total wimp when it comes to hard labor!" They continued in this vein for a bit, when another female voice said, "OK, all of you, stop it! We need to concentrate on actually getting these instruments down the stairs!" The others quieted down. Then another member of the band, once again female, spoke up. "So, Caiti, how do you propose we do this?" "Well Serena, we can do this two ways. We can do it the hard way, which is what we're doing now. Or, we can do it the easy way, the fun way, if you get my meaning." "Caiti, are you nuts? What if it spooks the owners? What if they aren't witches like us? We've never used our powers in public before!" Hearing this, Piper and Phoebe looked at the others. "They're witches, just like us," said Piper. The group continued to listen. "But Serena, what if you're wrong? I can sense some serious magic around this place. I think it's a safe bet that whatever we do, these people won't be shocked," said Caiti.  
"Fine, fine. Let's just get this over with," said Serena.  
"OK, on three," said Caiti. "1......2......3!"  
Then they heard a sound that sounded like 5 pairs of fingers snapping, and suddenly there were 3 guitars, a harmonica, a keyboard, a tambourine, and a drum set at the bottom of the stairs, and then they heard the pounding of feet coming down the stairs, and just as suddenly, there were 5 teenagers standing in front of them.  
Piper was the first to speak. "I assume you're the band, aren't you?" she asked. The group nudged each other and finally pushed a girl to the front, a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Yep," the girl said. "We're Awakened at Dawn, at your service. So, where should we set up?"  
Piper pointed at the stage, and the girl looked at the rest of the group and grinned. They snapped their fingers, and soon the instruments were set up. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige looked at each other. "Impressive," said Phoebe. "Thank you," grinned the girl. "So," Piper asked. "Who are you?" "Caitlin Dorian," the girl replied.  
At the sound of the girl's name, Leo looked up. While the band had been coming downstairs and setting up, he had been putting the microphones in place, and when the group had come downstairs and set up their instruments, he had been talking to Chris, but when the girl said her name, he stopped. The girl standing there, talking to Piper, looked exactly like- but it couldn't be, she would have to be older now, at least 35, she couldn't be 18 years old. Then, he saw her. There she was, standing behind the curtains onstage. He was sure this time that it was she. Telling Chris that he had to get something backstage, he orbed out of sight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Standing behind the curtain, Jeanne could see her daughter speaking to the owner of the club and smiled. Her daughter, soon to be in college, was speaking animatedly to a woman about 12 years younger than herself. She turned to sit in a chair near where she was standing. But as she turned, blue and white orbs appeared in front of her, and just as suddenly as they appeared, they disappeared, leaving a very familiar man standing in their place. Then he spoke, saying her name, "Jeanne, it's-"  
As Leo started to speak, Jeanne's expression changed from one of surprise to one of furious anger, and she slapped him hard in the face. Leo rubbed the left side of his face in shock and tried again this time saying, "Jeanne, I'm sorry-" but to no avail, as Jeanne slapped him again, harder than before. This time, Jeanne spoke first.  
"Where have you been the last 18 years Leo?"  
"They gave me my powers back, Jeanne. I had no choice."  
"You had no choice? You could have come back to see me and Caiti!"  
"If you'd stop bitch slapping me, I'll explain!" Jeanne finally calmed down and decided to let him speak. Leo explained how the elders had given him his powers back after he left her house that day, how they had erased his memories of her and the day they were together, and how he never knew about any of this until he saw a picture of Caiti right before he came to the club. "I believe you Leo," said Jeanne. "But now I've got the hard job of telling Caiti the truth." And with that, she orbed away, leaving Leo to think about what had just occurred, and how well Jeanne's aim had gotten since the last time they were together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Caiti," Jeanne called from the stage's edge. "I need to talk to you for a moment before you go onstage."  
Caiti looked at Piper and excused herself, telling the others to get ready to go on while she spoke with her mother.  
"What is it Mom?" Caiti asked, worrying a bit about what could be the matter when she saw the depressed look on her mother's face.  
"This is something I should have told you earlier. About your father."  
Caiti braced herself before saying, "OK, what is it?"  
"The man you grew up knowing as your father, he-he isn't really your father. Your father-your real father, I should say-was a whitelighter. His wings had been clipped-meaning his powers were taken away-when we, um, slept together, and he received his powers again when he left the house that day, before your father-the man you believed was your father- returned."  
Caiti was taken aback. "You mean, you cheated on Dad?"  
Jeanne sighed and said, "Yes. It's not something I'm proud of, but the man I cheated on him with is your father. Apparently the elders erased all memory of me, which in turn erased any thoughts of you."  
Caiti couldn't take another minute of what her mother was saying. "I'm sorry Mom," she said, "But I have to go onstage now. They're waiting" And with that she left her mother behind and joined her bandmates onstage.  
  
well, well, well! another cliffhanger ending! as before though, here are a few spoilers for next time! Next: The band performs! Will they get the job or not? Also, Caiti comes face to face with the man who could be her father. Who will he be? I bet you can already guess! 


	4. Chapter Four

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
A/N: OK, so I know that most of you are wondering what the hell I've done to the whole Charmed universe by what happened last chapter. I would like to take the time to mention that this is just a story, and that we who watch the show seriously don't know what Leo was doing in the '80s, making this and his explanation logical. This chapter is rated PG for language.  
  
CHAPTER FOUR  
  
Caiti picked up her guitar and put the strap over her left shoulder, motioning for Janna and Serena to do the same. Mike sat down behind his drums, and Jacob stood behind his keyboard, and then they were ready to play. Caiti looked out into the club and saw the club's owner Piper and her sisters Phoebe and Paige, and their whitelighter Chris.  
"Boy," thought Caiti. "That Chris is pretty damn hot." Suddenly a voice invaded her thoughts, literally.  
"Yeah, he is," thought Janna. Caiti smiled. Thinking conversations was one of the few ways that they could keep their thoughts safe from the boys.  
"But Janna, you're with Mike!" thought Caiti.  
"Hey, I'm thinking like they do in the museums," Janna counter- thought.  
"How's that?"  
"Look, don't touch!"  
Caiti laughed out loud and gave Janna a sly grin. "What's so funny?" asked Mike.  
"Just had a funny thought," said Caiti. "So," Caiti said, directing her voice to Piper, "Is there anything specific you want us to play? Any certain song?"  
"Whatever you would like to play is fine with me," Piper replied.  
"OK, then." said Caiti. Turning to Jacob, she said, "Start playing the music for 'The Anthem'."  
Jacob nodded and started playing. Soon Caiti, Janna, and Serena started strumming, while Mike started drumming and singing.  
Piper and the others listened intently, amazed at the quality of the band's playing, considering they were doing a cover of a relatively new song. While they were listening, Leo orbed in beside Piper. "How are they?" he asked.  
"They're brilliant, even though it's a cover," Piper answered. "Especially Caitlin, the one playing the baby blue and white guitar."  
Leo looked at the girl strumming away on her guitar. It took him a few moments to realize who he was looking at. The girl playing up there on stage had the same blonde hair and blue eyes that he did, which made him wonder, "Is this my daughter?"  
Paige looked at Leo, and then looked at Caitlin, or Caiti as they were told to call her. She saw what Leo was seeing, the same blonde hair, the same blue eyes, but most of all: "She has Leo's smile," thought Paige. "Wait a minute-nah, Leo told us he was watching over us since birth, this couldn't be his daughter, could it?" But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. The girl onstage, the girl that they were watching play guitar with her band, could be her brother-in-law's daughter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
From her place backstage, Jeanne could see her daughter playing and Leo watching her. "Ha," thought Jeanne. "Now he's realizing that Caiti is his daughter." Her silent laughter was stopped, though, when she saw Paige's face. "Apparently, so has his wife's sister. She's right though. They share the same hair color, eye color, and smile. This could get ugly if Piper finds out about what Paige thinks is 'just a possibility' is actually the truth. But it's not my place to interfere. All that I need to do was tell Leo about Caiti's true paternity, nothing more. They will find out on their own, and when they do, I won't be needed here anymore. Caiti will be with her father and stepmother, if Piper and the others choose to accept her." With that final thought in her head, she orbed out from behind the curtain and into the audience for a better seat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The band finished their song and took a bow. As Caiti rose from her bow, she saw Chris looking at her and smiling warmly, making Caiti feel weak in the knees. She then turned to her bandmates and joined in the high- fiving that was celebrating the fact that they didn't mess up the song, not even once. When their audience finished clapping, Piper addressed them and said, "That was wonderful. You really played the song well, and we-my sisters and I-have decided to hire you. Congratulations." At that the band cheered and hugged each other, the boys kissing each of the girls on the cheek, and the girls screaming, "We did it! We actually freaking did it!" while jumping up and down and hugging each other. The group then remembered to thank Piper, Phoebe, and Paige for hiring them, and asked when they would start. Piper answered: "Tonight."  
  
ok, i know this chapter was pretty short, but it was to the point. we now know that Leo thinks he's Caiti's real father. the only question left now is: is he right? and when Caiti meets Leo for the first time, will they realize their connection? 


	5. Chapter Five

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
A/N: This chapter is rated PG for language.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
Katriona- well, what are the odds that you'd have the same name as the main character? but seriously, glad you like it! i did 1.5 spacing on this chapter, and i hope it looks better. enjoy the chapter. i think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what happens.  
  
cricketlover- thanks! you know, you're the first person to wonder about Wyatt. but have no fear, he does appear in this story. in fact, he's in this chapter! hope you enjoy what I do with this story. i promise, you won't be disappointed. it's like a money-back guarantee without the money!  
  
CHAPTER FIVE  
  
"YES!!!!!!!!" screamed the excited band members upon hearing their first engagement was that night. Screams of "Oh My God," and "Can you believe it?" echoed throughout the club. Piper smiled and looked at the kids. "Well," she said. "It's obvious that you're excited to start work. But first, how about I introduce you to your other bosses?" The kids looked at each other quizzically and said, "Other bosses?"  
"Yes," said Piper. "Come down here, and we can start the intros."  
The group looked at each other and smiled. One by one, they snapped their fingers and appeared in front of Piper and the others. But when Caiti tried to snap her fingers, she suddenly felt her body dissipate into bright blue and white circles of light. When she regained her senses again, she was standing in front of Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Chris. Leo, who had gone behind the bar for something, looked up when Piper asked the group to come down off the stage, just in time to see Caiti leave the stage. "She can orb," he thought. "Just like me." While Leo was thinking about how he just saw Caiti orb, Paige was thinking the same thing. "She orbed," thought Paige with surprise. "The only ones in the family that can do that are me, Wyatt, and Leo....oh my god, she is. She's Leo's daughter. That's the only explanation. I have to talk to him." But before she got the chance, there was another shower of blue and white lights, and a woman of about 35 appeared next to Caiti, hugged her, and said, "My dear, I'm so proud of you. Congratulations." Jeanne turned to Piper and said, "I'm Caiti's mother, Jeanne Dorian." Piper and the others looked at her with shock clearly written on their faces. Thankfully, at that very moment, a piece of lighting broke loose on the stage, and on impulse, Piper froze it in midair. This time, it was Caiti and the band's turn to look dumbfounded. Jeanne, however, looked completely calm. Caiti was the first one to find her voice. "How-what-what the hell was that?" she asked, then covered her mouth quickly and said, "Sorry! It slipped out." "Don't worry about it," said Phoebe. "We were just about to ask you the same thing." "How did you do that?" asked Paige. "Well," began Caiti slowly. "I have no idea. I've never been able to do it before. I guess it came from my father's side of the family, or most likely, my father himself." "Your father is a whitelighter? But how are you human then?" asked Piper. "Oh, you mean Mom," Caiti said. "She was a witch, nasty car accident, accident left her unrecognizable, elders made her my whitelighter. That's how I'm human. Also, the man I thought was my father was a human, but then I.never mind. Anyways, that's my story." "Do you have any idea who your real father might be?" asked Phoebe gently. Caiti shook her head. "OK!" said Piper. "So, these are my sisters Paige and Phoebe, and this is Chris Perry, their whitelighter." As she introduced them, she waved her hand in their direction, giving her an idea of who was who. Phoebe and Paige waved in greeting, but Chris walked over to Caiti, took her hand, said, "Pleasure to meet you Caiti," and kissed her hand. Caiti blushed bright red, and was about to reply when suddenly a baby's cry rang through the club. Everyone looked over at one of the tables, and suddenly a baby appeared in a shower of blue and white orbs. "Wyatt, how did you get here?" asked Piper. The baby gurgled and said "Mama!" "Awww, how sweet," said Caiti. "Is that Piper's son? He's so adorable!" "Yep, that's her son," said Phoebe. "Leo-Piper's husband-is around here somewhere, but I don't see him anywhere." Before Phoebe could call for Leo, Paige said, "Well, maybe you guys should get going. I mean, you have to prepare for tonight. Your big break." Caiti smiled and said, "Yeah, she's right you guys. Let's head out!" As they left the club, they went past Piper, who was holding Wyatt, and Wyatt stretched his arms out to Caiti and said, "Gah! Gah!" "I think he wants you to hold him," said Piper. "Is it ok?" Caiti asked. "Sure," said Piper, and handed Wyatt to Caiti. Caiti took Wyatt and said, "Hey little guy, how you doing?" Wyatt looked at Caiti and smiled. Leo had stood up from his place behind the bar, and was just about to come out when Paige appeared behind him and said, "What a scene, isn't it? Your daughter and your son, together for the first time." Leo turned to Paige and said, "How did you-" "It's obvious, Leo. The hair, the eyes, the smile. But most of all, the orbing. You did see her orb, didn't you?" asked Paige. "I did. I didn't want to believe it, but I have to now. She's my daughter," Leo admitted with a sigh of defeat. "So," said Paige. "There's only one thing left to do, and that's to-" "Tell Piper, I know," said Leo, cutting Paige off. "But how?" "Tell her the truth," said Paige as they watched Caiti hand Wyatt back to Piper and say her goodbyes. "But will she believe me?" asked Leo, watching his daughter leave the club with her friends and her mother. "Who are you talking about Leo?" asked Paige. "Piper, or Caiti?" Leo looked at Paige and said, "Both."  
  
well, that was certainly interesting! i know i've been putting off Leo and Caiti's meeting, but i promise you, it will happen next chapter! so, and this is the last time, here are a few spoilers for the next chapter.  
  
Next: Caiti makes a wish to find her real father, and you'll never believe who hears it! An old friend returns, surprising the Charmed Ones and Leo. Caiti and Leo finally meet, face to face. 


	6. Chapter Six

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
A/N: well, obviously the 1.5 spacing didn't make a whit of a difference. I'm sorry for the spacing problems, but I can't control what the servers do to it. Sorry if it's hard to read, but it's worth reading, especially this chapter. oh, and this chapter is rated PG for language.  
  
CHAPTER SIX  
  
That night, everyone was at P3 to see the debut of Awakened at Dawn. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Chris were sitting in their usual booth, while Leo was working at the bar. Piper looked at her watch and said, "Nine o' clock, time to introduce the band." and made her way to the stage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Backstage, the members of Awakened at Dawn were nervous as all hell. Caiti was especially uneasy, as it was her first time singing live in front of people she didn't really know. Back in Pennsylvania, at Mel's, it was different. She knew everyone there, and everyone there knew her. She was the star, along with her friends. They were known. Here, they were just a bunch of kids with talent enough to get hired. This was their test. Caiti closed her eyes and thought, "I wish my father could be here to see this." From somewhere behind them, a man with brown hair and brown eyes watched them. "You'll meet him soon enough," said Cole Turner, before sneaking off into the audience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"And now, for the first time on the stage at P3, I would like to introduce Awakened at Dawn!" said Piper before walking offstage and rejoining her sisters and Chris. "This is it you guys," said Caiti. "Let's do this!" The band came onstage and took their places behind their instruments. Janna and Serena put their guitars on, while Caiti took her place behind the microphone at the front of the stage. Caiti turned to Jacob and said, "Start the music." Jacob nodded and started the opening notes of "I Must Not Chase The Boys," while the girls started their guitar chords, and then Caiti began to sing:  
  
"Won't someone tell me what is happening to me Why am I so misunderstood? Why can't they see? Now I'm caught between the devil and the angel That I used to be  
  
They say I'll understand it all in good time But age ain't nothing but a number in my mind I'm going crazy with this push me pull me Caught between wrong and right  
  
I wanna give in to the woman in me I wanna be someone they don't want me to be The moral of the story is I got no choice I must not chase the boys"  
  
Caiti sang her heart out, each time singing each song with more feeling than the last. Finally, Jacob said, "OK! It's time for us to take a short break, but we promise you, we'll be back!" And with that, the band left the stage, this time using the stairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When the band finished playing, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Chris applauded them loudly. "Damn," said Chris. "They're really good." "Yeah, they are," said a voice from behind Chris. Phoebe looked up, and there behind Chris was her demon ex Cole Turner. "What the hell are you doing here Cole?" asked Phoebe with a hint of anger in her voice. "Came to see the band, and you," said Cole. "I've changed, Phoebe, I swear. Can't you feel it?" Phoebe looked at Cole and using her new empath powers, read his feelings. "He's telling the truth," said Phoebe, shocked. "But why-how did you come back?" "I've been watching Caiti. She summoned me, to have a father figure after her stepfather died. She realized her mistake and got her friends after me, thinking I was still evil. But they cast a protection spell on me after they realized I was good. Being the geniuses that they are, they bound it to my newly good self, so that the instant I go bad, the spell goes too, and goes painfully." "So," said Phoebe. "Do you know who her father-her real father-is?" "Yeah, but it's not my place to tell," said Cole. "But I can tell you this: he's in the club right now." Then Cole saw, out of the corner of his eye, a girl coming towards him.  
"Hey Cole!" Caiti said, and hugged him. "I can't believe you showed up! How are you? I haven't seen you since we moved." "I'm fine," Cole replied. "Just catching up with old friends." "And girlfriends?" Caiti asked innocently. "How did you know?" Cole asked. "Oh come on, it's obvious about you and Phoebe. I'd be blind if I didn't see it." Just then Jacob called to Caiti, "Hey Caiti, me and Mike are gonna go up and do our little Bee Gees routine, 'k?" "How can you?" asked Serena. "There are only two left!" "Well sweetie," said Jacob. "How many are there of me and Mike?" Serena smacked her forehead and said, "That's right! There are only two left." "Can't sue us for trying to be accurate!" said Mike. "Go on," Caiti said. "We're gonna hang out here for a bit, if it's ok with everyone here." "Fine with me," Chris said with a smile that made Caiti blush bright red. "It's fine with us," said Piper, Phoebe, and Paige together as the boys went off to the stage and introduced their side act. As the boys started to sing "Staying Alive," Chris looked at Caiti and said, "Wanna dance?" Caiti smiled and said, "I thought you'd never ask." With that, they went off to the dance floor, while the others applauded their dancing. When the song finished, Chris kissed Caiti on the cheek and said, "Thanks for the dance, beautiful." and led her back to the booth.  
The boys then started to play the song "Tragedy," and Caiti excused herself from group to go get a drink. She sat herself down at the bar and said, "Shirley Temple, if you can make one," then turned to look at Chris. He caught her eye, and winked. Caiti turned back to the bar and smiled to herself. A voice said, "Here you go," and when Caiti looked up to thank the bartender, she found herself looking straight at Leo.  
They stared at each other for a moment or two, and finally Caiti said, "Thanks." "You're welcome Caiti," Leo replied. "How did you know my name?" Caiti asked. "Because I'm your father."  
  
well, who saw that one coming, besides me? guess he had to tell her sometime! and Cole's back! boy, was this chapter filled with surprises! and there's more to come! now that Leo's told Caiti that's he's her father, will Caiti accept it? will Leo finally tell Piper and the others the truth? and will Jeanne not be needed anymore, like she said in chapter 3? you'll just have to wait and see! 


	7. Chapter Seven

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
A/N: This chapter is rated PG for language.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- (smacks head) dang it! knew i forgot something! but never fear, i will sort it out, i promise! hope you keep reading and reviewing!  
  
LOTRgurl- as you wish! there will be more chapters coming, each more interesting than the last if I don't end up with writer's block!  
  
CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
"What?"  
"I'm telling the truth, Caiti. I'm your father."  
Caiti looked at Leo with a bewildered expression. Could he be telling the truth, like he claimed to be? Or was it a sick joke? "My father was a whitelighter, the only was you could be my father is if-OUCH!" Caiti stopped abruptly and looked at her hand. Right in the middle of her palm, where she had just set her hand on the bar, was a splinter that had just gone in far enough to draw blood. "Let me see your hand," Leo said. Reluctantly, Caiti gave him her hand. "It might hurt a little bit, but not for long." Leo removed the piece of wood from Caiti's hand, and it did hurt a little bit, but not much.  
"So you take a piece of wood out of my hand and I'm just supposed to believe that you're a whitelighter?" Caiti asked. "Let me finish," Leo replied. He then put his hands over her palm. Caiti watched in shock as a golden light formed over her wound and made the wound disappear. "Now do you believe me?" he asked quietly. Caiti looked at the man standing in front of her, who had said he was her father-who was her father-and had just healed her hand and said, "Yes, Dad." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Cole chose that particular moment to look up at the bar, and saw Leo heal Caiti's hand, and the look on her face when he healed it. "She knows," he said quietly. "Who knows what?" Phoebe asked. "Nothing," Cole said quickly. "Where's Caiti?" asked Chris. Cole gestured over to the bar where Caiti and Leo were talking and said, "Over there. Why? Do you like her?" "I'll take the 5th on that one," Chris said, his face bright red, and with that he walked over to the bar, just in time to hear Caiti say, "So, when are you gonna tell Piper that you're my father?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"What?" Chris asked. "Chris, oh my god, how much did you hear?" asked a now worried Caiti. "Enough," he said. "Enough to know that Leo's your father, enough to know that this is something Piper needs to hear." Leo orbed out from behind the bar and grabbed the back of the shirt Chris was wearing. "If anyone's going to tell Piper, it should be me. Not Caiti, and I'll be damned if it's you. Got it?" Chris nodded. "Good," Leo said. "Now, I'm gonna let go of you, and when I do, if you tell Piper anything before I get the chance, there'll be hell to pay." Chris said, "I get it." Leo let go of Chris, and turned to Caiti, who was now looking very frightened. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just want to make sure that-" "That you're the one to tell Piper," Caiti cut in. "I know, I know. I'm just shocked. Which leads to the question, when are you gonna tell Piper about me?" Leo looked over at his wife, sisters-in-law, and Chris and said, "Right now. Come with me." He held his hand out to Caiti, and she took it. Once again, she felt her body turn into brilliant orbs of light, and when she opened her eyes again, she was standing with Leo in front of the others.  
Leo looked at Piper, took a deep breathe, and said, "Piper, there's something I need to tell you."  
  
bet you're getting sick of all the cliffhanger endings, huh? well, hate to break it to you, but there's gonna be a lot of them! looks like Piper's finally gonna find out the truth about Caiti. the only real question now is: how will she take it? you're just gonna have to wait till chapter 8! (yes, I am aware of how cheesy that sounded) 


	8. Chapter Eight

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
A/N: This chapter is rated PG for language.  
  
CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
"What is it Leo?" Piper asked. "You don't have to go back up do you?"  
"No, it's not that. But it's something you need to know, that you need to hear from me and me only."  
"Ok," said Piper slowly and a bit worriedly. "What is it? What is it that you have to tell me that no one else can?"  
"You have to promise me that no matter what I tell you, you won't be mad, and that you'll remember that it was before I knew you."  
"Whatever it is Leo, I'm sure I won't get pissed off."  
"Well, the thing is-" But before he could say anything, he noticed a familiar figure sitting with Phoebe. "Cole? What the hell are you doing here?"  
"Came back to see Caiti sing, and to see Phoebe. Caiti and her friends put a protection spell on me that only works if I'm good. If I go bad, the spell goes kaput and so do I, in a big way. And judging by the fact that I'm still here, I guess it's safe to say that I've changed."  
"OK, screw the updates, what were you gonna tell Piper?" Phoebe asked. Paige just looked at Leo, knowing full well what he was going to tell Piper. "Let him talk Phoebe," Paige said calmly. "I think it's something she needs to know now. Right Leo?"  
"Right," Leo agreed. "Piper, I'm going to tell you something that you will probably not believe, but you'll have to trust me on it. OK?" Piper nodded, and Leo continued. "Right after your mother was killed and Paige's father disappeared, I went to the elders and asked for reassignment, seeing as you were safe with Grams. The elders got angry with me, and they clipped my wings. After they clipped my wings, I went to Connecticut where I met and fell in love with a young woman named Jeanne, Jeanne Dorian." Leo paused, and Piper and Phoebe gasped with realization. "Jeanne was married at the time, and I was working as a handyman at their house. The last day I worked there, Jeanne was home alone, and I had just finished setting a door on its hinges. I don't know what I was thinking at the time, if I was thinking at all, but I kissed her. Naturally, she slapped me hard on the face. But then, she kissed me, and the next thing I knew, well.....you get the idea. Afterwards, I kissed her goodbye and left the house. As soon as I left the house, I felt a burst of energy course through me, and I realized that I had been given my powers back, and that I didn't know what I was doing outside the house. I orbed back to San Francisco, and that's how it happened. Apparently, Jeanne and her husband announced her pregnancy a few months later, and Caiti must have been born later that year. Piper, I swear to God that I never remembered a thing after that, and that I never had any feelings for Jeanne. And that's the God-honest truth."  
Suddenly, Leo felt a slap come to him from the left side of his face. As he rubbed his face with his hand, he saw Caiti looking at him with a kind of god-awful look of rage and pain on her face. "You bastard!" Caiti screamed. Finally regaining her thoughts, Piper froze the club so that no one would notice the argument. "You bastard son of a bitch!" Caiti screamed again, and tried to slap him again, but this time Piper and Phoebe, who grabbed her arms to hold her back, hindered her efforts. "Caiti, calm down!" Piper said. "I won't calm down!" Caiti screamed. "How dare you!" she said, pointing at Leo angrily. "How dare you stand here and say that you never felt anything for my mother! You used her! You freaking used her! You don't care about her, and you damn sure don't care about me!" With that Caiti broke free from Piper and Phoebe's grasp and ran up the stairs and out the club doors. "I'll go talk to her," said Cole, and he ran out of the club after her. Leo watched Cole run after Caiti and sat down, feeling more horrible than he had ever felt before. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Outside, it had begun to rain. Caiti ran out of the doors of P3, sat down on the curb, and began to cry. "Why did I trust him?" Caiti said out loud. "Why did I think that he'd give a damn about me now, after all these years? I'm so stupid." "You're not stupid," said a voice from behind her. Caiti turned around and saw Cole standing behind her. "Can I have a seat here?" he asked. "Sure, why not," Caiti said, wiping a tear away with her sleeve. "I know what you're thinking right now, but I can tell you, it's not true," Cole said. "Leo does give a damn about you, and if you had seen his face after you ran out like that, it would have been obvious." Caiti looked at Cole with shock written on her face. "He cares? But what about- " "Piper?" Cole said. "She cares too. She was telling Leo how she didn't care about his past, but that he said what he said about your mom the wrong way." "Yeah, he did say it the wrong way," said Caiti. "And I'm sorry it sounded like I never gave a damn about you or your mom," said Leo, who had orbed in behind them. He whispered something to Cole, and Cole went back inside. Leo sat down next to Caiti on the sidewalk, now wet from the rain. "But you have to believe me when I say that I do care about you," he said, brushing a tear off of Caiti's face. "And I want to be a part of your life, if you'll let me." "And me too," said Piper. "And me," said Paige. "And me," said Phoebe. "Me too," said Chris. "Where did you guys come from?" asked Caiti. "We came outside when Cole came back in," said Piper, who then sat down on Caiti's other side. "I want you to be a part of the family. I'd be lying if I said that I'm not shocked, but I understand what you're feeling, and what happened with your mom and Leo. Would you be willing to forgive your father if it meant being a part of the family?" Caiti nodded, and suddenly, in a flash of white and blue orbs, her mother appeared in front of them all. "Mom, what are you doing here?" Caiti asked. "I thought you weren't feeling well." "I had to come after you found out the truth. Now that Piper and the others have accepted you as part of the family, you have a choice to make. Your father is needed up in Heaven, seeing as he's an elder and they need his help, meaning that he'd have to leave Piper, Wyatt, and you behind. Since you've been accepted, I'm not needed here anymore. Do you know what you have to do Caiti?" "I have to choose between you or Dad, don't I?" "No, you have to choose between wrong and right, what you believe in your heart is the right thing to do." "If you go away, will I be able to see you again?" Caiti asked. Jeanne smiled sadly at her daughter and reached out to touch her face. "No," Caiti whispered. "No. You can't mean it, you can't. It's not possible. I need you." "No, Caiti, you don't. Not anymore. You have a family now, and I'm not needed. Now it's time to make your decision. I know this is hard baby, but you have to do it." Caiti looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. She knew what she had to do. "I was lucky enough to have you for 18 years of my life. Wyatt has never had that long of a time with both of his parents. I want to give him a chance to have what I had: a real family, with a mom and a dad. I don't want to do this, but I know it's the right thing. I know it's what you'd want me to do. So I'm giving you up, Mom, because if I don't, I'll be begrudging my baby half-brother something that he hasn't had yet, and that's not right." Jeanne looked at her daughter and said, "I knew you'd do the right thing. It's almost time for me to go, baby girl, so give me a hug." Tears began to fall down Caiti's face as she hugged her mother one last time. "Be the strong girl I know you can be baby. Don't forget how much I love you, and be good for your father and Piper." Jeanne smiled at her daughter for the last time, and as she smiled, white and blue orbs surrounded her. As she began to disappear, Caiti screamed, "Mom, don't leave me!" over and over again. Finally, Jeanne was gone, and Caiti broke down completely into tears. Caiti began to crumple to the ground, and as she fell, Leo caught hold of her, and when they reached the pavement, he held his daughter while she cried until she could cry no more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
From Heaven, Jeanne could see her daughter on the pavement, in her father's arms, crying in the rain for her. A lone tear ran down her cheek, and she turned away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Don't worry Caiti," Leo said as he held the crying girl in his arms. "Piper and I will take good care of you, we promise. Do you want to go back inside to get warm?" Caiti nodded and stood up. Leo put his arm around her shoulder, and walked her back into the club, the rest of the group following behind them.  
  
(sniff sniff) that was so beautiful! so, the next question is, will Chris and Caiti get together? you'll have to wait till next chapter to find out! 


	9. Chapter Nine

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first. I also would like to add that I do not own the song "There You'll Be", Faith Hill and Diane Warren own the song.  
  
A/N: This chapter is rated PG for language. Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- yes, I do update fast, don't I? and it has kept me up till 2 in the morning eastern time for the last 3 days, but i can't disappoint the readers. i'm glad you like how i fixed the whole elder thing. took me a while to figure out what i was going to do, but i did it! be sure to keep reading! it will definitely get more interesting, especially now that Caiti's part of the family.  
  
Katriona- i'll try double spacing, but i don't know if it will make any difference. i honestly have been trying to make it easier to read, but i guess that fanfiction.net changes it when i upload it, because when i type it, it's got the spacing. it's the damndest thing, isn't it? anyways, i apologize in advance if it doesn't have the spacing up this time.  
  
LOTRgurl- thank you! glad you still enjoy the story. not bad for something I came up with in the space of 30 minutes one night before bed, huh? and don't worry, it will get more interesting.  
  
dream clouds- thank you, and i will keep writing. it's fun making these characters do what i want, since i don't own Charmed and never will, especially bringing back Cole, who i can't believe what the writers of the show got rid of!  
  
CHAPTER NINE  
  
The walk back inside the club seemed like it took hours to Caiti, when really it took only a few minutes. She was dazed, and it showed. "I'll never see her again," Caiti thought. "I know I did the right thing, but at what price?" When they reached their booth, they found the band members waiting for them. Janna and Serena stood up and hugged Caiti saying, "You did the right thing, you did the right thing." over and over again, trying to comfort their friend. Mike and Jacob patted her shoulders. Then, looking at the rest of the group, they went to another booth near the stage to talk. Caiti sat down in the empty booth and, putting her head on the table, began to cry again. Piper sat down next to her and tried to comfort her, while Chris went over to the bar to get her a drink. By the time Chris returned, Caiti was sitting up and talking to Piper about her decision.  
"I know I did the right thing, Piper," she was saying. "So why do I feel horrible? I shouldn't feel this way, should I?"  
"It's perfectly OK to feel sad about losing your mom that way," Piper said. "But think about what you've done for me and Wyatt, as well as yourself. You gave your little brother the best gift he could receive: his father, and you should never regret your decision for a moment."  
"I don't regret my decision," Caiti said, wiping a tear away. "But I feel like my feeling horribly sad about giving up Mom is selfish, and I know Mom would hate that."  
"It's not selfish at all," Leo said, sitting down on Caiti's other side. "I felt the same way when I couldn't heal Prue. But I eventually found out that even though I wanted to save Prue, I couldn't have. There wouldn't have been enough time to heal them both."  
"Who was Prue?" Caiti asked, turning to Piper. "Was she another sister?"  
"Yes," Piper said sadly. "She was the oldest. After she died, we found Paige, and having her around helped us get over our grief a little at a time, which is what we intend to do for you."  
"Here," Chris said, handing Caiti the drink. "I thought you might want one."  
Caiti took the drink, looked at it, and smiled. "A Shirley Temple," she said. "How did you know?"  
"Took a random guess," said Chris. "Guess I got it right, seeing as you're smiling again."  
"Yeah, you did get it right," said Caiti with a grin. "Thanks." Caiti took a sip of her drink and smiled again. "This is good. Best one I've had in a while."  
Meanwhile, Piper had unfrozen the club, and the band had taken the stage again. Jacob went up to the microphone, and said, "This next song is for Caiti's mom Jeanne. We'll miss her, the only person that didn't call the cops on us for disturbing the peace when we practiced." Caiti laughed when she heard that, and when asked if it was true, confirmed it, recounting the time when, back in Pennsylvania, her next door neighbor had called the cops on the band, sending the boys running down the street trying to carry the drum set and keyboard. The band then started to play "I'll Be Missing You," the tribute P. Diddy had done for Notorious B.I.G. When they finished, Caiti stood up and clapped, and the rest of the club followed suit. Then Caiti turned to Leo and Piper and said, "Now it's my turn." Leo nodded, and Piper said, "Go on," as Caiti made her way to the stage.  
"I would also like to dedicated the next song to my mother. She was always there for me, in good times and bad, and she'll be with me forever in my heart, if not in person." She turned to Jacob, and asked, "Do you still remember how to play 'There You'll Be'?" Jacob nodded and played the opening notes. Caiti looked out at the crowd nervously, and seeing her father, mouthed the words "I can't do it, I can't." Then, as if it were magic, she heard her mother saying, "Yes, you can. Don't be nervous Caiti." When I think back on these times  
  
And the dreams we left behind  
  
I'll be glad 'cause I was blessed  
  
To get to have you in my life When I think back on these days  
  
I'll look and see your face  
  
You were right there for me In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky  
  
In my heart there'll always be a place for you, for all my life  
  
I'll keep a part of you with me  
  
And everywhere I am there you'll be  
  
And everywhere I am there you'll be Well, you showed me how it feels  
  
To have the sky within my reach  
  
And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me  
  
Your love made me make it through  
  
Oh, I owe so much to you  
  
You were right there for me In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky  
  
In my heart there'll always be a place for you, for all my life  
  
I'll keep a part of you with me  
  
And everywhere I am there you'll be Cause I always saw in you my life, my strength  
  
And I want to thank you now for all the ways  
  
You were right there for me  
  
You were right there for me  
  
Always In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky  
  
In my heart there'll always be a place for you, for all my life  
  
I'll keep a part of you with me  
  
And everywhere I am there you'll be  
  
And everywhere I am there you'll be There you'll be  
As Caiti finished the song, she dropped her head down close to her chest so no one could see her crying. When she looked up, Phoebe, Paige, Piper, Cole, Chris, and her father had stood up and begun to clap. The audience followed, and Jacob whispered to Caiti, "There you go. You've just gotten your first standing ovation. Congrats, Caiti." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Caiti and the band finished the last song in their set, and took their bows, leaving the stage as the people filed out of the club. Leo hugged Caiti, saying, "That was wonderful Caiti. You sang beautifully." "Yeah," said Chris, giving Caiti a little peck on the cheek. "You were awesome." "Never better," said Cole. "That last song was great," said Phoebe. "Yeah, what was it called?" asked Paige. "It sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember the name." "The song was 'White Rabbit'," Caiti said. "And it was originally done by the Jefferson Airplane in the '60s." "Well," said Piper. "If we're all ready, let's go home. Caiti?" "Yeah?" Caiti asked. "You coming?" Piper asked. "You got room?" "Yeah, we've got plenty of room." Caiti smiled. "Then I'm ready." She joined her father and new stepmother, and left the club with her new family. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Outside, the rain had stopped, and to Caiti's surprise, there in the parking lot was her van, clouds and all. Caiti looked at the night sky, at one bright star in particular, and said, "Thanks Mom."  
  
well, that's the end of chapter 9! but don't worry, there's more to come! questions, comments, complaints? review and tell me! 


	10. Chapter Ten

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
A/N: i have changed the rating on this story to PG, because i got tired of always writing "this chapter is rated PG for language" and because it gets to be PG farther on in the story. and i did try double spacing the last chapter, but it didn't make any difference. i apologize to anyone who is inconvenienced by this.  
  
CHAPTER TEN  
  
Cole looked at the van and said, "Whose car is that?"  
"That would be mine," Caiti said. "Mom got it for me when we came out here, and the guys painted it blue, then me, Janna, and Serena did the clouds. It's a rather comfy little set-up in there. I've got beanbags, a fridge, and a microwave inside. That way, if I ever needed a place to sleep, I'd just hop in the back of the van and sleep there."  
"Good idea," said Chris. "You gonna do it tonight?"  
"Well, I was if there wasn't any room in the house, but since Piper said there is, I probably won't," said Caiti. "But I might, just for old time's sake. I have a heater in there too, so I won't freeze my ass off."  
Chris laughed and said, "As long as you're not freezing."  
Caiti looked at Piper and asked, "Well? Can I? Just for tonight as a kind of last hurrah?"  
Piper thought about it for a moment. "OK," she finally said. "But just for tonight. And only if someone stays out there with you."  
"But I'm 18 years old!" Caiti protested. "I don't need anyone to stay out here with me!"  
"Your father and I would feel better if someone stayed out here with you. We're only thinking about your safety," said Piper.  
Caiti sighed with defeat. "OK, OK. I'll have someone stay out here with me. But whoever it is has to stay in the front seat; I don't think I have enough beanbags for the both of us. Can I at least drive it over to the house?"  
"Sure. The house is only a few blocks down from here though," said Piper.  
"I could use the practice," Caiti said with a wink. "Anyone wanna come with me?"  
Chris and Paige raised their hands and Caiti said, "OK then! Load up the van, and let's head out!"  
Caiti snapped her fingers and the back doors of the van flew open, revealing what looked like a mini bedroom in the back and a regular car in the front. "Climb in!" Caiti said before she orbed herself into the car's front seat. "Shotgun!" called Chris. When he noticed everyone giving him strange looks, he said, "I've always wanted to say that," and orbed himself into the passenger seat. Paige climbed into the back and closed the doors. As soon as she made sure everyone was in, Caiti started the van and drove away, pausing long enough to wave out the window to Cole, Phoebe, Piper and Leo when they drove past them walking to the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When they finally reached the house, Caiti shut the car off and looked out her window, and got the shock of her life when she saw the others standing on the porch. Chris saw them too and said, "No freaking way." "What's going on?" asked Paige from the backseat as Caiti orbed out of the car. "Look on the porch," said Chris before he too orbed out of the car. Paige orbed out after him, and appeared on the porch in time to hear Caiti and Leo arguing good-naturedly about him and the others cheating.  
"Dad, you guys so cheated!" Caiti said with a grin.  
"Who said it was a race to get back to the house? I know I didn't." Leo answered back, grinning the entire time.  
"Well, we still have to decide whose going to stay out in the car with Caiti tonight," said Piper. "So let's stop the arguing and decide."  
"I think it should be either me, Chris, or Leo," said Paige. "Just in case we have a demon attack, there should be a whitelighter with her, even though she's half-whitelighter herself."  
Suddenly Leo got a look on his face that gave the indication that someone was telling him something. "Well, it's not going to be either of us," he said to Paige. "The elders want Chris to be her whitelighter, so I guess it's his job." Caiti turned towards her van so the others wouldn't see her blushing. "Well, if that's what the elders want." she trailed off. Chris, on the other hand, was blushing outright, so badly in fact, that anyone who didn't see it would have been either blind or stupid. "Well, I think I'll go in the house and get a blanket and pillows if I'm gonna stay in the front seat," he said, and orbed into the house. "Caiti," Piper said. "You might want to get ready for bed now, just so you're ready when he comes back out." Caiti nodded and orbed into the back of the van. "Well, then," said Phoebe. "Since that's done, I think it's time for me to go to bed." "What about me?" Cole asked slyly. Phoebe grinned and said, "The living room couch." Everyone said his or her goodnights to each other, and Leo knocked on the back of the van to say his goodnight to Caiti. Caiti said goodnight, and then Leo, Piper, and Paige orbed inside the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Caiti was all ready for bed when she heard a knock on the back of the van. "Who is it?" she asked. "It's me," Chris said. "It ok for me to come in?" "Sure," Caiti said. Chris orbed into the back of the van and promptly hit his head on the roof of it. "Guess I forgot to warn you about that, didn't I?" Caiti said with a sly grin. "Doesn't matter," said Chris. "It didn't hurt much." Looking at the plate Caiti held in her hand, he asked, "So, you baking something?" Caiti nodded and said, "Thought we might like something to eat, seeing as we didn't get anything at the club, and that I didn't eat dinner tonight from sheer excitement." "I like the way you think," Chris said smiling. "So, what's for dinner tonight?" Caiti laughed and said, "S'mores. It's about all I can make back here. The last thing I want to do is burn my van to ashes trying to make steak." Chris laughed. "Anything to drink?" he asked. "Well, we have a lot of stuff in here," Caiti said while opening the fridge. "We have water, milk, Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, and O'Doul's," she said, naming the contents as she saw them. "What's O'Doul's?" Chris asked. "Non alcoholic beer," Caiti said. "Mom let me have it when we were visiting my cousins in Michigan, said it wouldn't do any harm because it wasn't real beer." "I think I'll pass on the beer tonight," Chris said with a laugh. "Do you have any hot chocolate?" Caiti held up two cardboard packages and asked, "With or without marshmallows?" "With," Chris said. "OK then, two hot chocolates with marshmallows it is!" said Caiti. "I feel like having marshmallows tonight." Caiti got the water out of the fridge and poured some into two mugs she produced from a small cupboard near the microwave. She took the s'mores out of the microwave and put the mugs in to heat the water. When the water was finished, she put a packet of hot chocolate mix and a spoon into each mug, stirred it a little bit, and handed one mug to Chris saying, "Careful, it's a bit hot," then laughing because she sounded like her mother. They ate the s'mores, drank the hot chocolate, and talked for a while before Caiti finally yawned. "Guess it's time to go to bed," she said. She went over to the beanbag, snapped her fingers, and suddenly in its place was a mattress with blankets and pillows. Caiti threw a few blankets and pillows at Chris and said, "Here. You might need a few extras," before climbing into bed. Chris set himself up in the space between the back of the van and the front seat, settled himself down, and looked over at Caiti. She was already fast asleep. Chris smiled and thought, "She's beautiful," before going to sleep himself. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- well, if you call the tension between Chris and Caiti action, then I guess the last chapter had a lot of it. but never fear, there will be more Charmed-like action in the chapters to come. in fact, there's going to be a demon attack quite soon! (no, it's not Cole's fault in any way, shape, or form.) and have no fear, i will not stress myself out, and i will keep updating for my loyal fans. i enjoy updating for my loyal fans, seeing as this is the first time i've ever had loyal fans, and i'm glad that my story is being enjoyed.  
  
LOTRgurl- as long as my story is up, Leo will stay. if i had my way with the show, he'd be there a lot more, but since i don't and cannot influence Brad Kern in any way, shape, or form, i have no control over what he and the other writers do. i think it's horrible what they've been doing to Leo and what they did to Cole, so i'm doing what i think is best: writing a fanfic where they are both there and stay forever!  
  
CHAPTER ELEVEN  
  
When Caiti awoke the next morning, Chris was gone, as were the extra blankets and pillows. In their place was a note that said:  
"Caiti, thanks for the food. It was great. Maybe next time I can try the O'Doul's.  
Chris."  
Caiti smiled, and orbed herself into the house for a shower and breakfast. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Paige! Hurry up in there!" Phoebe called. "Other people need the shower you know!"  
The door opened and Paige came out fully dressed and drying her hair with a towel. "It's all yours," she said as Phoebe rushed inside and shut the door. "You're welcome," Paige grumbled. As she walked to her room, Caiti appeared. "Morning," Caiti said. "Morning," Paige replied. "How'd you sleep?" "Pretty good," Caiti said. "The hot chocolate and s'mores kept me up for a while, but other than that, everything was good." "Cool," Paige said. "So," said Caiti. "Who's in there and for how long?" she said, pointing at the bathroom. Paige laughed and said, "Phoebe, and probably a while. You got anywhere you need to be in a hurry? Because if you do, I'd advise finding another shower." "Nope, probably just moving my stuff from my house to here and not letting Mike or Jacob drive the Cloudmobile in the process," said Caiti. "The Cloudmobile?" Paige asked, confused. "My van," Caiti said. "It's what we started to call my van after we painted it." "Oh," Paige said with a grin. "Makes sense."  
Just then, Leo orbed into the hallway. "Morning ladies," he said, hugging Caiti. "So," Leo said, turning to Caiti. "Are you going to get your stuff from your house today?" "Yeah," Caiti said sadly. "Guess I have to, seeing as it's not my house anymore. The rest of the band is taking over it, and I let them, seeing as their landlord got pissed off at the constant drumming." "Do you need any help?" Leo asked. "Well, the guys are going to help with the packing, but we could use some extra help, seeing as I forbid them to drive my van. Last time they did, they nearly ran it into a tree," Caiti said with a slight grin. "I also have to go through my mom's things. She left it all to me, but I have to set everything in order and all that jazz." "Then you're going to need a lawyer," said Cole, who had shimmered in behind everyone. "Yeah, guess I could," said Caiti. "So, would you be willing to help an old friend?" "Depends on if the old friend's going to be paying," said Cole slyly. "You get to drive the van, how about that?" Caiti asked. "I never let anyone drive the Cloudmobile, so it's a great honor that you'd be receiving." Cole grinned and said, "Deal." "Good," Caiti said. "Now all I have to do is wait for Phoebe to get out of the shower so I can get one, get dressed, and it'll be all systems go!" A few minutes later, Phoebe exited the bathroom in her bathrobe and Caiti ran in and shut the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
20 minutes later, Caiti, Leo, and Cole were ready to go. "So, you wanna drive first?" Caiti asked Cole. "You can drive, since you know where it is," Cole said. "OK then, hold on a sec," Caiti said. She snapped her fingers, and then said, "OK, hop in!" Leo opened the back doors and saw that Caiti had added an extra seat. "Nice," he thought. "So, anybody want shotgun, or are you both scared of my driving?" Caiti asked with a grin. "I'll risk it," said Leo with a smile. "I mean, what do I have to lose? I can't die again, unless we run head first into a Darklighter's arrow." "Don't even begin to kid about that," Caiti said as she got into the driver's seat and buckled her seatbelt. Leo buckled himself into the front passenger seat, while Cole buckled himself into the backseat that Caiti added. "OK, is everyone ready?" Caiti asked. Leo and Cole nodded, and Caiti started the car. "Wagons ho!" Caiti said with a smile, and began the drive to her house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The ride to Caiti and Jeanne's house was uneventful, and when they reached the house, Leo complimented Caiti on her driving skills, saying that they were the best he'd seen in a while. When Caiti asked if it compared to Piper's driving, he wisely refused to comment. "I see the welcome wagon has arrived," said Mike, who had been sitting on the front steps with the rest of the band. "Ready?" Caiti nodded, and unlocked the front door. Walking into the house where she had been so happy with her mother just yesterday was one of the hardest things Caiti had ever done in her life. But it was something that needed to be done. "So," Leo asked, looking around the entryway. "Where do you think we should start?" "Well, I think we should start in my mom's room, I guess," Caiti said. "Mike says her clothes disappeared from the drawers, so there won't be any embarrassing discoveries while we're looking." Having said her piece, Caiti orbed upstairs into her mother's room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"It still smells like roses in here," thought Caiti as she stood in the middle of her mother's bedroom. She turned slowly around, taking in the sight of the room as it was, so she could remember it the way it looked now, so when she would come over to the house in later days, she wouldn't think of it as it would look. Caiti stopped when she saw the bureau. Walking over to it, she smiled as she saw the pictures still in their places and picked them up one by one. The last one she picked up was a picture they had taken at Virginia Beach the week before they moved. In it, she was laughing, while her mother had her arm around her and was looking at her lovingly. As she looked at it, she sat down on her mother's bed and touched the picture of her mother's face. She became aware of footsteps coming into the room. Caiti looked up and saw her father standing in the doorway. "What's that?" Leo asked, pointing to the picture in Caiti's hands. "It's a picture of Mom and me at Virginia Beach. It was taken a week before we moved here." "Can I see it?" he asked. Caiti nodded and handed Leo the picture. Leo looked at it for a few minutes, and said, "It's a beautiful picture. You both look so happy." "Well, it was before the accident and everything, so of course we were happy." "Do you see anything in here that you want to take back to the house with you?" Leo asked. "I'd like these pictures," Caiti said. "Let me check the closet." Caiti went over to the closet and opened the doors. She stared in surprise at a few dresses that were hanging in the closet, one of which had a note attached to it. Caiti read the note aloud: "Caiti, I was saving these for you for later on, but since I'm not going to be here, you may have them now. I made them for you based on what you've said you liked over the last 3 months. I hope you enjoy them. Love, Mom." "Well, looks like I'm taking the dresses, along with the pictures. I also want the photo albums downstairs, and, if possible, I want the piano." "You have a piano?" "Mom bought it for me to learn on. I want to keep it, if not in my room, then in the house at least." "OK, then. Let's get the stuff and go." Caiti snapped her fingers, made a box appear, and put the dresses and the pictures in it. Meanwhile, Leo had been going through the drawers, and had found a note with his name on it. "I'll read it later," he thought. Then he and Caiti orbed downstairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The piano? You want to take the piano?" Mike asked. "Yeah, I mean, Mom did buy it for me," Caiti said. "Besides, you guys have Jacob's keyboard to practice on." "I know, but it would be nice to have a piano in the house." "Too bad! I'm taking it with me." "Well, genius, how're you going to get it in the back of the van?" Caiti smiled and said, "I have my ways. Now, where are the photo albums? I want them all, including the gray ones." "But those are-" "I know, they're my stepdad's albums from Vietnam, but I want them too. I mean, he did raise me, so I feel they should come to me." "Well, what about the you-know-who's?"  
"Well, if they wanted them, they would have come and claimed them," Caiti snapped. She turned to her dad and said, "We're talking about his kids. If they wanted his stuff, they should've come and gotten them earlier, so they're fair game. Also, see if you can find his Beatles records, I'd like them too."  
Mike smiled. He knew why Caiti wanted those albums. In her stepfather's will, he had left her his collection of Beatles records and some other trinkets which she had already claimed. He snapped his fingers, and a large stack of records appeared on the coffee table. "Is that all of them?" Caiti asked. "Yep, every single one," Mike answered truthfully, seeing as how Caiti's father had collected every Beatles album they had ever made. "OK then," Caiti said again. "I've gotten all I want, except the stuff in my room. Is it all packed up?" Mike and Jacob nodded their heads, and went upstairs to get the boxes. Janna and Serena ran inside to tell Caiti that they had enlarged the inside of the van to fit the boxes and the piano, the boys came down with the boxes, and soon it was time to leave. But as Caiti and Leo stepped outside to leave, a demon appeared out of nowhere and threw Leo against the side of the house. The demon fired an energy ball at Leo, and had thrown one at Caiti, when she caught it, doubled it's size, and threw it back at the demon, causing it to explode into flames. "Congratulations," said Cole as he came out of the house. "You've just vanquished your first demon." But Caiti didn't hear him because she had run over to where her father lay unconscious on the ground with a large gash in his chest. Caiti remembered how he had healed her hand the night before, and put her hands over his chest. She watched in amazement as the same golden light appeared and the gash disappeared. Caiti moved her hands and stared at them as her father sat up. "What happened?" Leo asked. "Demon-fireball-I have no idea.." said Caiti, still amazed and now babbling in her amazement. "A demon attacked," Cole explained as he helped Leo to his feet. "He knocked you against the house and hit you with an energy ball which gave you a pretty large gash in the chest, and he had thrown one at Caiti, but she caught it. Apparently when she caught it, her anger caused her to double the ball's size, and she fired it back at the demon. Naturally, it killed him. I guess she didn't hear me say that she had vanquished it, because she was too busy running over to you. She healed you, Leo. Your daughter saved your life." "She did?" Leo asked in amazement. "I healed him?" Caiti asked. "Yeah," Cole said with a smile. "Congrats." Leo looked at Caiti, who was still staring at her hands, and smiled. His daughter had saved his life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When they finally loaded everything into the van, Caiti handed the keys to Cole and said, "It's all yours." She then climbed in the backseat, while Leo got into the passenger's seat. They then drove off, towards home and, for the moment, safety. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- since Caiti is half whitelighter; she has the power to orb and the power to heal. she and her friend Janna can also speak to each other through their minds, which is a power unique to them. there was a fluke in Caiti's DNA, explained in this chapter, which has given her extra powers. she has a little of each of the powers of Paige, Piper, and Phoebe, she can double the size of energy balls, and she can make things appear and move with a snap of her fingers, all of which were caused by the DNA fluke. there is also a dangerous side to all of this. Caiti occasionally has "power bursts" which are basically bursts of energy that are controlled by her anger. the angrier she gets, the more power she builds up, and the release could prove deadly. the important thing to remember about this is that it is not like in the movie "Carrie," even though Caiti is telekinetic like Carrie. it is simply energy bursts. all of this will be explained in this chapter. remember that note Leo picked up? it plays a key part in this chapter. keep reading. you'll see what i mean. also, thank you for your suggestions. i will keep them in mind.  
  
mrs.shigwa.cobain- have no fear! i won't end it there. there will be lots more to come, trust me! and i'm positive you will enjoy what i have in store.  
  
CHAPTER TWELVE  
  
When they reached the manor and had unloaded all the boxes, there was still the piano left to get out of the back. The discussion on what to do got so loud that Piper came outside to see what was wrong and almost screamed when she saw the piano.  
"Where the hell did that come from?" Piper asked, pointing at the piano.  
"My house," Caiti said, "My mom got it for me, and I heard your piano got destroyed or something, so I thought I could kinda donate it to the house. Can we keep it Piper? Please?"  
"OK," Piper said, "But we need to get it into the house somehow. Any ideas on how we're gonna do it boys?"  
Leo and Cole shook their heads, but Caiti smiled. "Never fear," she said, "I'll do it." Caiti closed her eyes and focused on the piano, mentally putting it into the house, and snapped her fingers. Caiti opened her eyes and said, "If I did it right, it should be in the old piano's spot, and the pictures should be on top. The ones that were on the other piano, I mean."  
Sure enough, Paige came running out of the house 5 seconds later saying, "Where the hell did that piano come from?"  
"She did it!" cried Leo, Cole, and Piper, all pointing at Caiti. "Hey!" Caiti said, "What happened to defending the young in a family?"  
"Well, it's cool. We could use a piano," Paige said, "And besides, I think they were kidding."  
"Well I certainly hope so," said Caiti, "Or else I'm sleeping in the van again tonight!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Once inside the house, Piper showed Caiti upstairs to her room. Upon entering the room, Caiti immediately noticed that it looked exactly like the paint job on her van: blue with clouds sponge painted on the walls, except the wall painting was better than the van painting. "One of your friends told us that you always wanted to have your room painted this way, so we thought that it would make you feel more welcome in the house if we did it this way," explained Piper. "Thank you," Caiti replied, "It's beautiful." Caiti continued to look around the room. She noticed that the bed was covered in blues, light and dark, and that there was a canopy hanging over it, and not the kiddie kind either, and that the curtains were also blue. The furniture was white, and so was the closet door. Caiti walked over to another door and opened it to find a bathroom. She turned to Piper and said, "I get my own bathroom?" Piper nodded, and Caiti said, "Cool!"  
"Well, I guess you should start unpacking your things," Piper said, "Would you like me to help you?"  
"Sure," Caiti said with a grin. She snapped her fingers and a box appeared in front of her. Caiti picked it up and put it on the desk near the door. "So," Piper asked, "What's in here?" Caiti reached into the box and pulled out some records. "My inheritance," she said with a smile, "Every Beatles record ever made. My stepdad collected them, and he left them and some photo albums to me when he died. He always knew I loved the albums, seeing as how big a Beatles freak I am." Piper grinned and asked, "Where do you want them to go?" "You know, I have no idea," Caiti replied slowly, "Maybe in cases, and hang them on the wall. Yeah, that sounds good." "Cases it is," said Piper. Caiti snapped her fingers, and soon all the albums were in protective cases and hanging on the wall. "What next?" Piper asked, enjoying herself immensely. "The photo albums," Caiti said, "I need to put them on the bookshelf. Can you get that box over there?" she asked, pointing at a box near the bed where Piper was standing. Piper picked up the box and carried it over to the desk, where Caiti was emptying the contents of the box that had held the records. Caiti snapped her fingers, and the box disappeared, and the books, apparently filled with piano music, flew onto the shelves. "Not bad, not bad at all," said Piper.  
  
Caiti laughed. "Well, I have gotten better at it. The other day I tried it and ended up knocking the shelf over!" Piper laughed and said, "Here are the albums."  
Caiti thanked Piper and took the albums out one by one. Then she had a thought. "Piper?" Caiti asked. "Yes?" "Would you like to see some of the pictures later? I thought you might like to." Piper smiled and said, "Of course. After we get everything set up. Do your thing." Caiti snapped her fingers again, and the photo albums flew onto the shelves, but while they were flying, a few pictures fell out. "Damn it!" cursed Caiti, "That always happens with these old ones!" she said as she knelt to pick up the pictures. Piper knelt to help her, and turned one of the pictures over, revealing a very handsome young man in a Green Beret uniform. "Who's this?" she asked Caiti, showing her the picture. "That's my stepdad, when he was in Vietnam. It must have fallen out of one of the gray albums. Those were his Vietnam albums, the ones he left for me." "He was very handsome," Piper said. "More handsome than me?" Leo asked with a grin. Piper and Caiti turned around sharply. "You scared us!" Piper said. "Sorry, just thought I'd orb up and see what you two were doing," he said. "Well, right now we're trying to pick up the pictures that fell out of my photo albums," Caiti said as she stood up and brushed off her jeans, "That's the last one!" "Who's the guy in the picture?" Leo asked. "My stepdad when he was in 'Nam," Caiti said. "'Nam?" Piper and Leo asked, confused. "Sorry," Caiti said, "I kinda lapsed into my PA drawl. It's what my friends and I call it, Vietnam I mean. We started it when we realized we couldn't pronounce it for a while." Caiti snapped her fingers, and the photos disappeared into the album pages. "All that's left now is to get my clothes hung up, and I'll be done," she said, opening the last box. Snapping her fingers yet again, the closet door opened and the clothes flew in and hung themselves up. "Done!" Caiti said cheerfully, "I'm gonna go downstairs. There's something I wanna try on the piano." With that she orbed out of the room. Leo put his hand in his pocket and discovered the note, still where he put it when he left the house. He pulled it out and Piper asked, "What's that?" "It's a note Jeanne wanted to send me, I guess to tell me what happened, but she never sent it." "Well," said Piper, "Let's see what she wanted to tell you. It must have been important if you found it now." Leo nodded and unfolded the note. It said: "Dear Leo, I know this may sound strange, but I must tell you what happened after you left. I discovered I was pregnant a week after the incident, and decided to pass it off as Joe's baby. So Joe and I slept together, and apparently, I conceived again, at the same time I was already pregnant. But something happened that will be of great importance to you should you ever find Caiti. The other child, whom I had decided to pass off as Caiti's fraternal twin, was lost before she was born, and the DNA was somehow put into Caiti, giving her the other child's powers as well as her own, inherited from you and I. Since the other child was full-blooded witch, the powers Caiti received were ones carried by her stepfather, the power to increase the size of any object by two times, the power to make things appear with a snap of the fingers, and the power to move things with a snap of the fingers. But there is something else too. Caiti, who is 3 now, has apparently inherited Joe's temper from the other child, causing her to have "power bursts" when she becomes angry. It has caused mini explosions so far, but I fear what would happen should she become truly enraged. If you ever find her in your care, try to help her get a handle on this. I fear that it might kill her or someone else one day if it is not controlled. Well, I hear Caiti calling for me. If you ever receive this letter and you are caring for Caiti, keep well in mind about the power bursts, and watch out. Love, Jeanne."  
  
"So," said Piper, "What are we going to do? Even though she's my stepdaughter, I like her and I want to help her out. Any ideas?"  
"Well," Leo said, "We could start by watching her during any earthquakes." Piper hit him playfully and said, "Be serious." "I have no idea," Leo said, "None at all." 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- you're welcome. it took me a bit of time to figure out how to explain the power bursts, but other than that, i knew what i was going to do right away, i was just waiting for the right time to introduce it. there will be more Charmed action in the coming chapters. i should have known I had a Piper/Leo fan here, seeing as I'm a big Leo fan myself. that's why my friends and i watch Charmed, Leo and also all the fights. it's cool watching bad guys get what they deserve. and I always accept reader suggestions, unless they involve killing someone that's important. anyways, keep reading and reviewing.  
  
LOTRgurl- thank you! keep reading and reviewing. this story will definitely get more interesting later on.  
  
A/N: sorry i didn't update yesterday, i was taking a day off, which i really needed. but never fear, i'm back and so is the story!  
  
CHAPTER THIRTEEN  
  
Caiti orbed back into the room in time to hear Leo say, "Well, if Jeanne was right, Caiti could prove to be a deadly weapon under the right circumstances. We definitely need to keep an eye on her." "How about two?" Caiti asked. Piper and Leo jumped. They turned around and saw Caiti standing behind them. "So, how do you propose to keep an eye on an extremely independent 18 year old?" she asked with amusement. "We mean when you're with us, or any other member of the family," explained Piper, "We read the note your mom left, and it seems that you have a bit of a-" "Temper?" Caiti asked, "Problem when it gets the best of me? Yeah, I do. It's really hard to explain. It feels like, I don't know, like I'm floating. But then there's an explosion, and I'm on the ground, but I'm not angry anymore. I've tried to control it, and I've managed not to blow anything up, but I guess I can't, because every time I get angry, boom. It happens."  
"Can you tell us exactly what happens when you have the power bursts?" Leo asked.  
"Well," said Caiti, "First, I feel the anger rising, and I start to hyperventilate and clench my jaw tightly. Then I feel my feet start to lift up, and when I look down, I'm floating in the air. Then, when my anger reaches its peak, that's when the explosion happens. It feels like a strong gust of wind blowing me into all directions, and when it's over, I'm standing on the ground again, and whatever's in front of me has moved to the other side of them room, or someone's hurt. The first time I did it, I.I." Caiti hesitated before continuing.  
"What happened?" Piper asked gently.  
"I hurt my mom," Caiti whispered, "She came into the study, where I was playing dolls, just as the burst itself happened, and she was knocked backwards. She got bruised up pretty badly, and she also had hit her head on a corner of a desk and cut her forehead." Caiti hung her head and said, "She never treated me the same way after that. It was like she was Mrs. White in 'Carrie' the way she acted. She never accused me of being the devil, but she always thought that something wasn't quite right with me, until she took me to a doctor, who was also a witch, and she said that it wasn't telekinesis causing it, that it was anger. Then everything went back to normal, well, as normal as possible for us."  
"Do you know why you have as many powers as you do?" Leo asked.  
Caiti nodded her head. "My mom told me I was supposed to have a twin, but that she lost the baby before it was born, and somehow I absorbed her powers, including her temper, which meant that had she lived, she probably would have been the one with the power bursts instead of me. She never told me that it could be deadly one day, though."  
"Well, we're going to do our best to help you," said Piper, "Your father and I want to help you learn to control the power bursts, learn to harness the power, and learn to use them for-" "Fighting the good fight?" Caiti asked. "Exactly," said Piper, "The way I see it, whenever Phoebe, Paige, and I go out on our next demon fight, you should come with us and help out in whatever way you can. I already asked your father about it, and he gave his OK." "He didn't want to, did he?" Caiti asked. "Boy, you're really astute for an 18 year old," said Piper, "You're right, he didn't want to send you out with us, but he wants you to be able to control and use the power bursts too, and he eventually agreed with me that it was the best way."  
Caiti went over to Leo and said, "Don't worry dad, I'll be safe, I promise. I mean, I was able to take care of myself when the demon attacked this afternoon, wasn't I?" Caiti's hand flew to her mouth when she realized that she had said too much. "Uh-oh," said Caiti, "You didn't tell her, did you Dad?" Leo replied, "I was going to, but it slipped my mind." "You were attacked?" Piper asked, "What happened?"  
"The demon attacked me, Cole, and Caiti while we were coming out of her house. It threw me against the garage door, and threw an energy ball at Caiti. Caiti stopped the energy ball, doubled its size, and threw it back at the demon. Naturally, it hit the demon and vanquished it. Before anybody could say anything, Caiti ran over to me and healed me. There was a particularly nasty gash in my chest and I was unconscious, which was the reason that I couldn't heal myself. Caiti must have been surprised, because when I came to, she was kneeling beside me and staring at her hands. Cole explained to her what she had done, and she was very surprised. Apparently she had never healed anyone before. She saved me Piper, and she also saved herself."  
Piper looked at Caiti and said, "You healed him?" Caiti nodded. Piper hugged Caiti and said, "You did very well, better than I did my first time vanquishing a demon, and you also had the advantage of being half whitelighter with you. I'm very proud of you, and I'm sure Phoebe, Paige, and Chris will be proud too. I know your father and Cole are proud of you. You showed courage that not many 18 year olds would show when faced with their first demon, and I think you're on your way to being as great as my sisters and I are, maybe greater."  
Caiti blushed and said, "I doubt that. You and your sisters are the Charmed Ones. No one is greater than you when it comes to powers."  
"There's a first time for everything," said Piper, "Now come on, let's go downstairs and tell the others." Piper took Leo and Caiti's hands, and they orbed downstairs together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Wow," Phoebe said when Leo had finished recounting Caiti's fight with the demon. They were all sitting in the living room, listening to Piper's plan for Caiti and Leo's account of the demon fight outside Caiti's house. "You did good," Paige said, "Very good. When I first vanquished a demon, it was with Phoebe and Piper. I didn't take it as well as you did, though. I ended up running out of the attic accusing Piper and Phoebe of turning me into a devil of some kind."  
"She's a strong fighter," Cole said, "Stronger than most witches her age, and even stronger than some older than her. Demons will definitely be after her soon, some to get her powers and use them for evil, but mostly to kill her so she doesn't stay a threat to them." When Caiti heard this, she said, "I'm gonna get killed?" "Not necessarily," said Cole, "But there is the chance that some demons will want you dead." "I'm not going to stand around waiting to be killed, especially in here!" Caiti screamed before running out of the house, slamming the back door as she went. "I'll go after her," Chris said, orbing out of the house. The rest of them sat in silence for a bit. Finally Leo said, "What are we going to do now?" "I don't know," Piper said, "For once, I don't have a plan. She's 18, she's got her whole life ahead of her. How do we prepare her for what may be an early death?" No one answered her, because no one knew what to say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Caiti ran through the backyard to the rose garden that Paige had planted that summer, running through the bushes until she came to a clearing with a white arch and a bench under it. She sat on the bench and began to cry. She didn't stop crying when Chris orbed in and put his arms around her. She didn't stop crying until Chris said, "I'll protect you, don't worry. I'll make sure you stay safe, and I promise that nothing bad will happen to you when I'm around." Caiti stopped crying and looked up at Chris. "You're not bullshitting me, are you?" she asked. Chris shook his head, and Caiti sat up and dried her tears with her sleeve. Then she looked into Chris' eyes, leaned in, and kissed him. 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
  
The kiss seemed to go on forever, but it was really only a few seconds before Caiti broke away from Chris, stunned at what she had done, and ran out of the garden towards the house. Chris orbed out of the garden and appeared behind Caiti on the steps, and reached out, grabbing her arm and saying, "Wait a minute, Caiti. Can we talk?"  
Caiti turned to face him and said, "What is there to talk about? I've only known you a day and I kissed you. I've never kissed a guy I've only known for a day and I feel horrible about it. I also feel really bad about the fact that I enjoyed the kiss, so now that I've told you everything, there's nothing to talk about!" Before she could protest, Chris pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, this time longer than before. This time, Caiti did not pull away, instead choosing to stay in his arms and enjoy the kiss, and she felt it was over too soon when Chris let go of her and said, "Well, you're not the only one who enjoyed the kiss," before orbing inside the house. Caiti stood outside for a few moments thinking about what had just occurred, and then went inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Caiti reached the living room, she looked around for Chris, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Dad," Caiti asked, "Where's Chris?" "He left a few moments ago, he said that you were calmed down and that he was leaving for the night," Leo replied. "He didn't say where he was going, did he?" Caiti asked. "No," Leo said, "Why?" Caiti thought about Chris and the way he had kissed her on the steps and said, "No reason. I just wanted to ask him something, nothing important." Leo nodded and orbed out of the room and into the kitchen with Phoebe and Piper. Paige looked at her queerly, but said nothing. Phoebe and Piper didn't notice what Paige noticed, and neither did Cole and Leo. When Caiti asked her question, Paige noticed that she seemed a bit more flushed than she had been when she left, and that she seemed more disappointed than one should be when their whitelighter leaves, but she said nothing. "Let them find out for themselves," Paige thought, "I have no business in this, even if she does like Chris, and even though I know that they were out in the rose garden kissing. When Caiti decides to tell them, she'll tell them.  
Caiti paused, and in her head, she heard Paige's voice. It took her a few moments to realize she was hearing Paige's thoughts. "She knows," Caiti thought, "She knows all of it."  
Before Caiti could go upstairs, a man with a bow and arrow appeared behind her. "Caiti!" screamed Paige, "Look out, behind you! A darklighter!"  
Caiti turned, but she was too late. The darklighter had already fired, and the arrow struck Caiti in the chest. Caiti gasped and fell to the ground. Cole caught her as she fell, and called, "Leo! Piper! Phoebe! Come quickly, it's Caiti! She's been shot by a darklighter!" Phoebe and Piper ran in and shouted "Oh my god, oh my god." Leo orbed in and looked at Cole, who was on the floor holding Caiti, who had an arrow sticking out of her chest, in his arms. "What happened to her?" Leo asked, kneeling by his daughter's body. "He came from behind her," Paige said, "I tried to warn her, but she turned around too late, and he hit her." "Put her on the couch Cole, then go and try to find the darklighter who did this," Piper said, "Phoebe, get a blanket, and after you do, go with Cole. Paige, Leo, try to find Chris and bring him back with you. I'll stay here with Caiti." Cole picked Caiti up and carried her over to the couch; Phoebe covered her with a blanket, and then left the room with Cole and Paige. Leo sat down by the couch and began to stroke Caiti's hair, saying, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll find the bastard that did this to you, and he'll pay. But first we're going to go find Chris. We'll be right back. In the meantime, you keep fighting, OK? You hold on, and we promise we'll help you." Kissing her forehead, Leo orbed out, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at his daughter, lying nearly lifeless on the couch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
While Leo was in the living room with Caiti, Paige had been scrying for Chris, and when Leo came back into the room, she had his location and was ready to go. They orbed out of the house, and ended up in the middle of P3. "That was fast," Paige said, looking around the room, finally spotting Chris at the bar, and pointed at him saying, "There he is, let's go get him." Paige and Leo orbed in behind Chris, and when Chris turned around, he jumped and said, "Where the hell did you two come from?" "We came from the house," Paige said, "We need you to come back." "Why?" Chris asked. Leo turned away from Paige and Chris, unable to speak. "She's been hurt," Paige said softly, "By a darklighter. We need you to come back to the house with us to help us heal her." "Why couldn't the two of you do it yourselves?" Chris asked. Leo became enraged and turning to Chris, grabbed him by the shirt collar and said, "The arrow went in below her heart, you bastard. The injury is too great for Paige and I to take care of on our own. She could die if we don't help her." Chris' face fell, and he thought of the kiss that he had given Caiti on the steps, and how he had walked away from her afterwards in anger, and he said, "OK, I'll come along, but you're gonna have to let me go, OK?" Leo nodded and let go of Chris, and the three of them orbed back to the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Caiti opened her eyes, and looked at Piper. "What happened?" she asked weakly. Piper shushed her and said, "Don't talk, dear. You've been shot by a darklighter's arrow." "That means I'm dying then, doesn't it?" Piper's eyes filled with tears, and she said, "You don't have to. Your dad and Paige have gone to find Chris, and they should be back soon. Is there anything you want right now?" "Could you put the radio on?" Caiti asked, "I want to hear some music." Piper nodded, stood up, and went over to the radio, and turned it on. The first notes of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" floated into the living room, and Caiti smiled and closed her eyes. Piper went back over to her and sat down. Paige, Leo, and Chris orbed into the living room, and Chris, taking one look at Caiti lying near death on the couch, dropped to his knees with anger. "Come on Chris," Paige said, near tears herself, "We have to save her." "Piper," Leo said, "Remove the arrow." Piper nodded and said, "You might want to come over here and hold her hand or something, it's going to be painful." Chris said, "I'll do it, if it's OK with Leo. I mean, if I hadn't walked out, she probably wouldn't have come in the living room and been shot." Leo didn't know what he meant, but he nodded and said, "Go ahead."  
Chris walked over to the couch where Caiti lay, and took her hand, saying, "Caiti, can you hear me?" Caiti opened her eyes and said, "Chris? I." "Shh," Chris said, putting a finger on her lips. "Don't talk. Piper's going to take the arrow out of you, but it's going to hurt. If you want to squeeze my hand, go ahead," he said, holding his hand out to Caiti, who weakly took it. "Now Caiti," Piper said gently, "You need to roll onto your right side so I can take the arrow out." "Why not just pull it out?" Caiti whispered. "Because the poison will work faster that way, and we don't want that," Leo said quietly. Caiti rolled onto her side, still holding onto Chris' hand, and as Piper pulled the arrow out of her, she screamed. Tears began to appear in Leo's eyes, and he turned away so he couldn't watch his daughter's suffering. Chris stroked Caiti's hair and said, "It's over Caiti, the arrow's out." Caiti looked at Chris and said, "I enjoyed the second one better than the first," attempting a weak smile. Chris smiled with tears in his eyes and said, "I'm glad to hear it." "Chris," said Caiti. "What is it?" Chris asked. "That was my first kiss," Caiti said before she gasped and went unconscious. "She's dying!" Chris said, "We need to help her, now!" Leo and Paige rushed over to the couch, and the two of them and Chris placed their hands over the wound, and began to heal her. "What's taking so long?" Chris asked. "She's been hurt pretty badly," Leo said, "It'll take a while to heal her, but she should be fine soon." Minutes passed that seemed like hours to Chris, when suddenly Caiti gasped and said, "What-what-what-what happened? Where's the arrow?" She reached down and touched the spot where the arrow was, and found that it was gone, as was the hole the arrow had left. Leo smiled and said, "Welcome back Caiti." Caiti sat up and hugged her father saying, "It's good to be back." She then looked at Chris and said, "Can I have a moment in here alone? I need to ask Chris that question now." Piper and the others nodded, and they walked out of the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Meanwhile, Cole and Phoebe found themselves in a biker bar near the freeway, looking for the darklighter. Cole looked around the room, and his eyes rested on a huge, hulking man with a bow and arrow. He turned to Phoebe and said, "There's our man." The large man left, and Cole and Phoebe followed him outside. He turned around suddenly with his bow and arrow poised to fire, and said, "We'll be back for her, and next time, we'll succeed," but before he could do anything, Cole had thrown an energy ball at him, which hit him in the chest, causing him to burst into flames. "He's done," Cole said, "He won't be coming back." "But what about what he said?" Phoebe asked. "We'll worry about that later, after we get back to the manor," Cole said, and grabbing Phoebe's hand, they shimmered back to the manor to tell Piper and the others what the darklighter had said. 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- i know what you mean about Chris on the show. that's why i decided to make the line between good and evil clean cut for him in my story, and by having him fall in love with Caiti, i found the perfect way to do it. i was going to have Leo be the one shot by the darklighter, but the guy's been shot by them so many times on the show that i decided to give him a break for a change. there will be a Caiti/Wyatt moment, a bigger one than the one in chapter five and i can tell you now, she will not hate him. i don't know right now who will be the more powerful of the two, but from what i've written so far, i believe it will be Caiti. wow, i have loyal fans! that's a first! every other time i've tried to do something like this, i've never had this much success. anyways, i'm excited about the new episode tonight too. i'm definitely going to watch it. as always, keep reading and reviewing and enjoying the story.  
  
Rider'z Lil bitch- thank you for reading my story. i hope you keep reading and reviewing, and also enjoying the story. you won't be disappointed.  
  
CHAPTER FIFTEEN  
  
"So," Chris said after the others had left the room, "What did you want to ask me?"  
"Well," Caiti said, sitting up slowly, "I really didn't want to ask you anything. I used that as an excuse to talk to you, about what happened in the rose garden."  
Chris smiled and said, "I should have known. But, like you said, there's nothing to talk about. Or is there?"  
"Actually, there is something to talk about," Caiti said slowly. "First, I want to thank you for helping my dad and Paige save me. Second, I want to apologize for nearly crushing your hand when Piper took the arrow out."  
Chris laughed. "No problem, you didn't crush it at all. I didn't know about the attack. I was drinking myself stupid at P3 when Paige and your dad came in. Then Paige told me what happened, and when I asked why they hadn't been able to take care of it, your dad went psycho on me." "Like he did at the club last night?" Caiti asked. "Pretty much," Chris replied, "Except this time, I understood why. He was upset, and for a good reason. Paige was right when she said that they couldn't have done it by themselves. Your injury was so bad that they did need me, and I'm glad they did."  
"I'm glad they did too, or else I wouldn't be here right now," said Caiti, "But there's something else too." "What is it?" Chris asked.  
"It's about what happened in the rose garden. I-I was scared, as you know, and I was upset. But then you came out into the garden, and you held me, and you told me that everything was going to be fine, that I'd never be hurt while you were around, and I felt more safe than I ever have before, and that's why I kissed you. Then I ran away, without giving you a decent explanation, and you followed me, and stopped me on the stairs. When I gave you a somewhat decent explanation, you kissed me and then you left. But what you said to me after you kissed me, about me not being the only one that enjoyed the kiss, it made me think about what I had done. I felt foolish and mean, and I was coming to find you when-when I was attacked," Caiti said quietly, "And in those few moments after I was hit, I was thinking of you, about never being able to see you and about the garden. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for what I said, but I'm not sorry for what I did. Kissing you, I mean, I'm not sorry that I did it." Caiti looked at Chris, who seemed to be thinking about what she had just said.  
After many minutes of thought, Chris smiled and said, "Apology accepted. Now, can we seal the deal?" "How are we gonna do." But before Caiti could finish, Chris had leaned over and kissed her. When he finally sat back, Caiti said, "I guess that's how we seal the deal." Chris laughed and said, "So, how are you feeling?" "Truth be told," Caiti said, "I still feel a little weak from the attack. But I don't think I'll stay weak for long, maybe a few days, I don't know." "Most likely a few days," Chris said in agreement, "Which means you'll have to stay in the house, and I'll probably stay with you." Caiti smiled and said, "I think I can stand being in the house for a few days if the only condition is that you stay too."  
At that moment, Cole and Phoebe appeared in the living room. Phoebe rushed over to Caiti and hugged her saying, "I'm glad you're OK, we were so worried." Cole hugged her too, and told her about the fight between him and the darklighter. When he had finished, Caiti said, "Ah! You vanquished his sorry ass then. At least he won't hurt me or anyone else again." Piper, Paige, and Leo walked into the room in time to hear Caiti say "At least he won't hurt me or anyone else again," and Piper said, "Who's not going to hurt you again?" Caiti looked at Cole and said, "You tell her." Once again, Cole recounted the battle he had with the darklighter. Paige said, "Whoa. You did vanquish his sorry ass. Shame I didn't get a crack at him, I would've beat him beyond recognition." At that moment, Caiti grabbed her side and groaned. "What is it Caiti?" Leo asked, "What's wrong?" "Just a little pain," Caiti said, "It's nothing." "Obviously it's something," her father replied, "You should rest." "Yeah," Phoebe said, "I can feel that you're still weak from getting hit. You really should try to sleep a little." "Down here?" Caiti asked. "This will be better for you right now," Piper said, "That way, you don't have to move too much, and you can just go right to sleep." "OK, that works," Caiti said. "Come on guys," said Paige, "Let's go so she can sleep." Then they all left the room, except Leo, who gave his daughter a kiss before orbing upstairs to bed. Caiti closed her eyes and smiled as she drifted peacefully off to sleep, the pain in her chest gone for the moment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Caiti woke up the next morning, she sat up suddenly, not knowing where she was and wondering why she wasn't in her bedroom. But then the stabbing pain in her chest reminded her of what had happened the night before and why she was on the couch in the living room instead of her bedroom. Piper came into the room carrying a tray, and when she saw that Caiti was awake, she said, "You're awake. How did you sleep?" Caiti said, "I slept pretty well actually, until I woke up, when I felt the stabbing pain in my chest again. That tray doesn't have an Aleve on it by any chance?" Piper sat the tray down on the coffee table, pulled a small bottle out of her pocket, and showed it to Caiti. "You're a saint," Caiti said, taking the bottle and opening it to get a pill. "I thought you might be needing one," Piper said, "Seeing as you were in a pretty big bunch of pain last night before I gave you one." Caiti took the pill and closed the bottle. "Yeah," Caiti said, wincing as she reached over to hand the bottle back to Piper, "I just wish they would kick in faster. So, what've we got here?" Caiti asked, pointing to the tray. "Eggs, bacon, and a cheese Danish," Piper said, "Along with some tomato juice." "My favorites," Caiti said with a smile, "How did you know? Or, more accurately, who told you?" Piper smiled and said, "Your mother. Last night, when I was asleep, I saw your mother. She told me everything I needed to know about you and what you like and dislike." "Damn," Caiti said, "She didn't tell you about." "Your crush on Orlando Bloom? Or your crush on Chris?" Piper asked, grinning slightly. "OK, since my crush on Orlando Bloom is a known fact, I'm assuming she told you about Chris," Caiti said, blushing beet red. "Don't worry," Piper said, "I won't tell. I'm assuming Chris knows, correct?" "Yeah, he knows," Caiti said, "In fact, he knows a whole lot," she said, thinking of the kisses. "I'm not going to ask, I'm just going to assume that you and him had a couple of moments together in the rose garden last night that ended in a kiss." "And you thought I was astute," Caiti muttered, just loud enough for Piper to hear. "Anyways, I have to go to P3, the kids will be arriving soon for daycare," Piper said. "Daycare?" Caiti asked. "Yeah," Piper said, "I started it after some things happened with your dad to take my mind off of it." "What happened?" Caiti asked. "It was about 10 months ago, and it was because your dad was made an elder," said Piper, "But even though your father came back, I thought it would be a nice way to get extra income." "Can I come and help out there when I get better?" Caiti asked, "I mean, I am taking a year off before I start college so I can earn money for it, so I have the time. I don't want to be paid, I just want to have somewhere to go during the day." "It's fine with me," Piper said, "We'll talk more about it when you're feeling better. I have to go now, bye," she said as she walked out of the house. Caiti began eating the breakfast when Chris orbed into the room. "Morning, beautiful," Chris said, "How was your night?" Chris walked over to the couch and gave Caiti a kiss on the forehead before sitting down. "It was good," Caiti replied, "And yours? Or do I not want to know?" Chris grinned and said, "It was fine. So, I see you have your breakfast." "OK," Caiti said with a grin, "What do you want?" "What makes you think I want something?" Chris asked innocently, then realizing that Caiti wasn't buying it, said, "A piece of Danish." Caiti broke the Danish in half and handed part of it to Chris. "Didn't you eat this morning?" Caiti asked. "No," Chris said, "I wanted to get over here to see you as soon as possible, and in my hurrying, I forgot to eat." "I think I can fix that," Caiti said as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly a breakfast exactly like Caiti's appeared, with the exception of a drink. "What do you want to drink?" Caiti asked. "O'Doul's," Chris said with a sly grin. "You're kidding, right?" Caiti asked. "Yeah. I'll just have what you're having, which appears to be tomato juice, unless you became a vampire overnight." Caiti snapped her fingers and a glass of tomato juice appeared. While Chris was examining the drink, Caiti reached over and took half of his Danish. "Hey!" Chris exclaimed, "What was that for?" "For me giving you half of mine," Caiti said. "Fair enough," Chris said. The two ate their breakfasts in silence, and when they had finished, Chris looked at the piano, then turned to Caiti and said, "Do you actually know how to play that thing, or is just sitting there to look good?" "Yeah, I can play the piano," Caiti replied, "You wanna hear me play something?" "Do you feel up to it?" Chris asked, "Because if you don't want to, you don't have to." "I'll do it," Caiti said, "I could use the practice anyways. Can you help me up?" Chris held out his arms and helped Caiti to stand, then orbed her over to the piano. Caiti sat down at the piano and said, "Anything in particular you'd like me to play?" Chris shook his head. "OK then, I hope you don't mind what I pick," said Caiti. She put her hands on the keys, and began to play "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." As she played, she began to sing along. I can't light no more of your darkness  
  
All my pictures seem to fade to black and white  
  
I'm growing tired and time stands still before me  
  
Frozen here on the ladder of my life  
  
Too late to save myself from falling  
  
I took a chance and changed your way of life  
  
But you misread my meaning when I met you  
  
Closed the door and left me blinded by the light  
  
Don't let the sun go down on me  
  
Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see  
  
I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free  
  
But losing everything is like the sun going down on me  
  
I can't find, oh the right romantic line  
  
But see me once and see the way I feel  
  
Don't discard me just because you think I mean you harm  
  
But these cuts I have they need love to help them heal  
  
When she stopped playing, Chris applauded her and said, "Is that all you can play?" "Actually, I can play some other Elton John songs, and most of the Beatles songs," Caiti said, "Oh, and I can play the 'Mickey Mouse Club March,' but I'm saving that for Wyatt." Chris laughed and said, "That reminds me, I have a surprise for you." "What is it?" Caiti asked, surprised. Chris turned the radio on, and the local oldies station's request show came on, and suddenly Caiti heard the DJ say, "This next one is going out to Caiti, from Chris," and the melody of "Tiny Dancer" floated into the living room. "That's my favorite song," Caiti whispered. "I know," Chris said, and he held out his hand and said, "May I have this dance?" Caiti nodded her head, and stood up shakily. Chris took her arms and put them around his neck, and began to dance. Caiti rested her head on Chris' shoulder and closed her eyes to absorb the music. When the song ended, Caiti looked up at Chris and said, "Thank you. No one's ever done that for me before. It was sweet of you." Chris said, "It was nothing," and tilted his head until it met Caiti's in a kiss. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A few hours later, Caiti and Chris were sitting on the couch watching television when Chris stood up and said, "Time for my next surprise." "Chris, how many surprises do you have in you?" Caiti asked. "This is the last one, I swear," Chris said, "And it involves going outside, so you're going to need some transportation." With that, he picked Caiti up, who gave a surprised gasp and asked, "What the hell are you doing Chris?" Chris smiled and said, "Providing transportation." Caiti laughed and said, "OK then, as long as I know what's going on." Chris carried Caiti out the back door and into the rose garden, going through it until he reached the arch and the bench. Caiti gasped again when she saw what was there. Spread out on the ground was a blanket that had all of Caiti's favorite foods on it, including the grape leaves and hummus that her grandmother made for her whenever she was at her house. Chris put Caiti down on the blanket and sat down next to her. "I thought since you couldn't get yourself to a McDonald's for lunch and since the weather was so nice that you might enjoy a picnic," Chris said. "You thought right," said Caiti with a smile, "But where did you get the grape leaves and hummus?" "Your grandmother," Chris said, "I went to her house and told her that you wanted some of the food. When she asked who I was, I told her I was a friend of your father, and she believed me only when I showed her a picture of you and Leo. Apparently she knew about everything and gave me plenty of food. Enough to last for a few weeks." Caiti laughed and said, "That's my grandmother for you. Always feeding people, even when they don't want to be fed." Chris laughed and said, "Let's eat."  
After they had finished the picnic, Chris said, "Before we go inside, there's something I'd like to ask you."  
"What is it?" Caiti asked, curious.  
"I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime, after you get your strength back, of course," Chris said.  
Caiti didn't have to think about her response for long. After a few seconds Caiti looked at Chris, smiled, and said, "Yes. I'd love to." 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- guilty as charged! i am an Orlando Bloom fan. i thought it would be cool to have something in so it wouldn't be too easy for Caiti to guess that Piper knew that she liked Chris. also, the grandmother they are talking about at the end is Caiti's maternal grandmother, who is Slovakian and married to a Syrian, Caiti's grandfather. you will find out later that Caiti's gotten a lot of trouble from kids because of her heritage, and that her father's death isn't the only reason they had to move. yeah, Chris did do something naughty on the show last night, but all the Drew Fuller fans in the world are probably so happy that he was pantsless that they don't care what he did to get that way. and when you think about it, Wyatt was a bit naughty himself! did you see the way he laughed at the dragon? anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. also, about Caiti's chest pains, they're from when she got shot by the darklighter. the wound was pretty deep, and even though she was healed, it still hurts her a bit. this chapter is going to be a bit more interesting, i promise. keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying!  
  
CHAPTER SIXTEEN  
  
The rest of Caiti's days in the house passed quickly. Every day, Chris was there, and his presence helped Caiti pass the time. Then one morning, Caiti woke up on the couch, and for the first time in 4 days, she didn't have any chest pains. Caiti ran upstairs to her room, threw open her bedroom door and screamed "I'm cured!" Phoebe, whom Caiti had passed on her joyous run up the stairs, smiled and said, "We're in for it now." "What do you mean?" Paige, who had orbed in behind Phoebe, asked. "We have a healthy teenager in the house now," Phoebe explained, "We'll never have a quiet moment in this house again." Piper and Leo walked out of their bedroom in time to hear Phoebe's comment, and Piper said, "When have we ever had a quiet moment in this house?" "It's going to be louder now," Paige said, "Caiti's better." "I thought she'd be better in a few more days," said Leo, "But obviously she gets stronger faster than most people." At that moment, Caiti came out of her room dressed in black jeans and a Beatles T-shirt and said, "Whatever peace and quiet you had is gone now," with a grin, "I'm gonna go downstairs for breakfast." With that, she orbed downstairs to the kitchen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Caiti reached the kitchen, she found Cole sitting at the table with the newspaper, sections of which were strewn over the table. Caiti began to look through them and asked, "Where are the Comics?" Cole picked up a section that had fallen on the floor and handed it to Caiti. "Thanks," she said, and sat down at the table. Her eyes fell on a column at the bottom of the page, and she exclaimed, "Hey! I didn't know Phoebe had her own column in the paper! Cool!" Caiti began to read Phoebe's column, forgetting the comics for a moment, nodding her head after reading Phoebe's answers to each letter, finally returning to the comics after she finished reading the last reply. By the time Paige, Piper, Leo, and Phoebe came downstairs to the kitchen, Caiti had finished Baby Blues, Dilbert, Andy Capp, Beetle Bailey and all her other favorites, and was giggling like a madwoman at Classic Peanuts. Paige gave her a weird look and asked Cole, "What's gotten into her?" "Classic Peanuts," Cole replied, going over to see which one it was, "And apparently, it's one with PigPen." "Hahahahaha," Caiti laughed, "After all that work, he's dirty again! He's like a freaking MagneDuster for dirt! Hahahahaha!" "I don't think I saw that one," Leo said, "Can I see it?" Caiti nodded and handed her father the paper, still laughing. Leo read the comic strip, which showed PigPen once again cleaning himself up, and then walking out the door, only to be bombarded with a cloud of dirt and dust, and grinning, handed the paper back to Caiti. "Where's Chris?" Caiti asked, taking the comics. "He's still at home, asleep," Leo said, "The elders gave him the message that you were OK, so he stayed at home." "That works," said Caiti, and returned to giggling at Classic Peanuts.  
"OK," Piper said, taking the comics away from Caiti and beginning to make breakfast, "I think you've had enough comics for today." Caiti handed her the paper and said, "Maybe you're right." "Besides," said Piper, "If you're going to help out at the daycare, what kind of an example are you going to set for the little kids if you're laughing like a maniac?" "Oh, believe me," Caiti said, "That was not me laughing like a maniac. Put me in a room with a TV that's playing 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' and then you'll see me laugh like a maniac. Gets me every time. It's my one weakness," she said with a grin. "Well," said Paige with a grin, "Guess we know what not to rent the next time we get movies." "OK everyone!" Piper said, "Breakfast!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When everyone had finished breakfast, they all went off to their jobs for the day, Cole, Phoebe, and Paige to their offices, Leo to wherever the elders sent him for the day, and Piper and Caiti to the daycare center with Wyatt. Before they got inside the club/daycare center, Caiti's cell phone rung. "Hello?" she asked. "Hey," Chris said, "Heard you were feeling better." "Who told you?" Caiti asked, knowing full well what Chris would say. "A little elder told me," Chris replied, "So, I was wondering, would you be up for that date tonight?" "Yeah, I would," Caiti said, "Where are we going?" "Well, I figured we'd go out for dinner, then come back to my place and watch a movie," he replied. "Are we really going to watch a movie, or is this just a way to get a make out session from me?" Caiti asked. Chris laughed and said, "Well, I don't think 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' is make-out-movie material." "Just checking," Caiti said, "So, what time should I be ready by?" "How about 7:00? Is that good for you?" Chris asked. "It's good for me," Caiti said, "See you then. Bye." "Bye," Chris said, and then hung up. Caiti hung up her cell phone and smiled. Piper looked at her and said, "I guess you have a date for tonight? Is it with Chris?" Caiti grinned slyly and said, "Wouldn't you like to know?" before walking into the club. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Before long, the daycare center had filled up with kids, and Caiti had her hands full immediately. Piper had put her to work watching the youngest kids, something that Caiti fully enjoyed and did without complaining or whining. The parents who came in to drop off their kids were amazed at how well she was able to handle all the babies that were crawling over her. Caiti spent the day reading stories, changing diapers, giving bottles, and then rocking the babies to sleep at naptime. Finally, when the last baby was asleep, Caiti was able to take a break. She went over to the bar, where she found Piper and her father talking. "Hi Dad," Caiti said, taking a seat at the bar and putting her head down on her arms, "When'd you get here?" "A few seconds ago," Leo replied, "I hear you've been busy. Did the kids wear you out?" Caiti laughed ruefully and said, "Would I be sitting here with my head on my arms if they didn't?" before putting her head down on her arms again. "I thought so," Leo said, "Well, maybe you should relax while the babies are asleep." Caiti picked her head up and gave Leo a dirty look before putting her head down again. "I think she was," Piper said. Then the silence was broken by a baby's cry. Caiti picked her head up and said, "Well, back to work," before returning to the baby area. "I guess I'll be going now," Leo said to Piper, and with that he orbed out. Piper looked at Caiti, who was playing peek-a-boo with one of the babies, and went back to the other children. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
By the end of the day, Caiti was worn out from the babies, but she still managed enough strength to orb herself home. When she reached the living room where Paige, Phoebe, and Cole were sitting, she went to the couch and practically passed out. "Tough day?" Cole asked. "I'd forgotten how much energy those babies have," Caiti said, "The last time I was taking care of that many babies, I was doing it to earn a Girl Scout badge." Just then, Piper walked into the room with Wyatt, who promptly orbed onto Caiti and said, "Caici play!" "No, Wyatt," Piper said, coming over to take Wyatt off of Caiti, "Caiti's tired." Caiti sat up and said, "It's cool, Piper. I can make some time for my little brother." "Are you sure?" Piper asked, "You look really tired." "Well, if I don't start moving around now, I'll be asleep on the couch when my date gets here, and then I won't be able to go," Caiti said, "And playing with an 11 month old is the perfect way to get moving." "Seems logical," said Cole, which promptly sent Caiti into a small fit of giggles. "What's so funny?" Phoebe asked. "Your boyfriend just talked like Spock," Caiti said. Before Cole or Phoebe could respond, Wyatt tugged on Caiti's jeans and said, "Caici play! Caici play!" again. "Well," said Caiti, picking Wyatt up, "Duty calls." As Caiti walked out of the room carrying Wyatt, Phoebe asked "Wait a minute, who are you going out with?" Caiti smiled and said, "Wouldn't you like to know?" Before Phoebe could respond again, Caiti walked out of the room with Wyatt. As she walked away, Cole, Phoebe, Paige, and Piper could here her say, "So little man, what do you want to play?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Caiti was sitting on the floor with Wyatt, who was playing a toy piano rather noisily, but having the time of his life nonetheless. Suddenly Wyatt stopped playing and turned the piano in Caiti's direction and said "Caici play pano!" "OK," said Caiti, "If you really want me too. Now, what should I play?" "Giccy Mouse! Giccy Mouse!" Wyatt said happily. "OK," Caiti said, "Mickey Mouse it is!" Caiti turned the piano all the way around until the keys faced her, and began playing the "Mickey Mouse Club March" for her little brother, who giggled and screamed "Caici play Giccy Mouse!" at the top of his lungs, so loudly in fact that Leo orbed in to see what was going on. Kneeling beside Wyatt he asked, "What are you so happy about little man?" Wyatt pointed at Caiti and said yet again, "Caici play Giccy Mouse!" "She's playing Mickey Mouse! You like Mickey Mouse, don't you Wyatt?" Leo asked. Wyatt nodded as Caiti finished the song and looked up to see her father standing there. "I can take him now," Leo said as Caiti stood up, "You have to get ready for your date. By the way, who's the lucky guy?" "You'll find out," Caiti said, and orbed upstairs to get ready. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Caiti orbed back downstairs half an hour later, she was wearing a black skirt and a red boatneck top, stockings, calf-length boots, and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. The others were all waiting in the living room, and looked up when Caiti walked into the room. She did a model turn and said, "What do you think? Good enough for a first date?" They all nodded their heads in approval, and Paige said, "Your guy's going to drop dead when he sees you. Or maybe he won't, if your going out with who I think you are." Just then the doorbell rang and as Caiti went to answer it she turned to Paige and said, "I will not dignify that with a response." Caiti opened the door and there was Chris, holding a red rose. Chris gave the rose to Caiti and said, "You look great." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Paige heard Chris' voice, she said, "I knew it!" to the others and ran to the entrance to the living room to eavesdrop, followed close behind by Piper, Phoebe, Cole, and Leo, who, upon seeing Chris standing in the doorway, got an angry look on his face. Chris, who had been talking to Caiti, happened to look up as the rest of the group filed into the hallway and said, "Don't worry Leo, I'll have her back before dawn, at the earliest." Caiti turned around and said, "Dad!" in a tone conveying the additional message, "Get out of here!" "Well," Leo said, trying his best not to throw Chris out of the house, "You two have a great time." Caiti smiled and gave Leo a hug and whispered, "Don't worry, I don't think the elders will be as pissed off this time," to him, but loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, before going out the door with Chris. "She might be right about that you know," said Piper. Leo looked out the window at Caiti and Chris, who were driving off in Chris' new Mustang and said, "I hope you're right." 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
A/N: i am very well aware of the fact that most 11-month-olds are unable to speak in somewhat coherent sentences, but we all know that Wyatt is not your average 11-month-old. also, i would like to tell all my readers not to expect a chapter on the 17th because it is my birthday and i will be having my friends over to celebrate. i might post a chapter that day right after school, but if i do, it will be a short one. i just thought it was right to alert my readers so they didn't think i forgot about them.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- yeah, it kinda does, doesn't it? i thought it would be only natural, since she's his only daughter and he doesn't really like Chris. yeah, i saw a bit of that one. i love when he runs into the kitchen and stops mid-sentence to say, "why is there a unicorn in the kitchen?" it's kinda weird that he wouldn't notice a unicorn in the middle of the kitchen right away. i know i would. anyways, about Cole and Phoebe, you will find out later. suffice it to say that they don't hate each other anymore. sorry, but i have to save some things as surprises! Chris lives in the same apartment that he did in Sunday's episode, except you get to see more of it, like the living room. i might have enlarged it a bit for the purposes of my story, but other than that, it's the same place. there will be a Piper/Leo moment soon, i promise. anyways, like always, keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying!  
  
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN  
  
As Chris and Caiti pulled away from the manor, Caiti looked back and saw her father looking out the window at them. "He's watching us," Caiti said to Chris in a spooky voice. Chris laughed and said, "Well, he shouldn't be upset about this, seeing as him and Piper started out this way. Besides, does he really think that I'd let you get hurt?" Caiti said, "I can speak for myself, but I can't speak for my dad, unless he starts sending me psychic messages or something. So," Caiti said, changing the subject, "Where are we going for dinner?" "It's a surprise," Chris said, "But I can guarantee you'll enjoy it." They talked the rest of the car ride, and when the car finally stopped, Caiti gasped. "This is the Hard Rock Café!" she exclaimed. Chris smiled and said, "I knew you'd like it." He held his arm out and said, "Shall we?" Caiti took his arm and they walked into the restaurant. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Once inside the restaurant, Caiti was amazed at all of the memorabilia the restaurant had on its walls. When they were seated, Chris told Caiti about all the things that were near their table. Caiti nearly fainted when she realized the suit she was sitting next to belonged to Elton John, and the guitar in the case next to it was George Harrison's. "So," Caiti said after they had gotten their drinks, "Who tipped you off about the restaurant? Was it the handiwork of my friends? Or was it someone else?" Chris laughed and said, "Well, when I was in Pittsburgh getting the food from your grandmother, I also ran into your grandfather, and he told me. I think I surprised him when I asked his permission to go out with you, I guess he's not used to that. After I did, he was more than willing to tell me where you might like to go. I also found out that Dave and Buster's is a big hit with you." Caiti laughed and said, "It is, and not just because of the arcade. The food's really good too, especially the Bananas Foster pie." "I figured you'd mention a dessert," Chris said, "So, you've really never been in one of these before?" "I've really never been in one before," Caiti said, "There was one at Station Square in Pittsburgh, but I never got the chance to go there." "Well," Chris said as their food arrived, "Now's your chance, and I want you to enjoy it." Caiti smiled and said, "I'm sure I will." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When they were finished eating, Caiti insisted on paying half the bill, a gesture that Chris appreciated, because, as he put it, "How many girls do you meet these days that are actually willing to pay for part of their date?" After paying the bill, they started driving back to Chris' apartment when Chris stopped at a gas station. "I'm gonna fill up the car, if you wanna get some snacks for the movie, go ahead," he said. "I'll wait until you're done," Caiti said, "That way, I don't get something you don't want." "OK," Chris said, "If you want to." Caiti washed the windshield while Chris finished filling the tank. When they went in the little convenience store to pay for the gas, Chris and Caiti got some food and drinks before paying for the gas. When they had paid for the food and the gas, they got back into the car and drove the rest of the way to the apartment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Oh my god," Caiti said, laughing, "I can't believe it." "What?" Chris asked. They were sitting on the couch in Chris' apartment watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and it had just come to the part in the movie when Sir Lancelot was killing all the people at the wedding. "I can't believe that he just ran through and killed all those people, and that they made it funny," Caiti said. "Well," said Chris, "Monty Python manages to make a lot of things funny that aren't." "Wait a minute," Caiti said, "Are we trying to find logic in a Monty Python movie?" "You know what?" Chris said, "I think we are." "What the hell were we thinking?" Caiti asked. Chris laughed and said, "I have no idea." "The movie is making us stupid!" Caiti laughed. "OK, I think we should finish the movie before we go insane," Chris said, "That way, when we do go insane, we'll have an excuse." "I think you may be right about that," Caiti said, and they went back to watching the movie. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Meanwhile, back at the manor, Leo was sitting in the living room, waiting for Caiti to get home from her date with Chris. Piper came downstairs and said, "Honey, she's 18 years old, you don't have to worry about her." "I'm worried about Chris," Leo said, "What if he does the same thing to Caiti that he did to me? What if he sends her somewhere?" Piper sat down next to Leo on the couch and said, "He won't hurt her. I think he might even love her." "What?" Leo exclaimed, "He's only known her for a week, how could he already be in love with her?" "There is such a thing as love at first sight, you know," Piper said. "I guess," Leo admitted, "But still, I'm worried." "I know, I know," said Piper, "She's your only daughter. But she's 18, and she can take care of herself. Now come on, you need your sleep." "Fine, but as soon as she comes home, I'm back downstairs," Leo said. Piper shook her head, and they orbed up to bed. But unbeknownst to them, Phoebe, Paige and Cole had come downstairs and were listening to Caiti and Chris, who had just come back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When the movie was over, Chris drove Caiti back to the manor. He walked her up to the door and stood there for a minute, not saying anything. Finally, Caiti said, "I had a great time tonight." "Me too," Chris said, "I'd like to do it again sometime." "Me too," Caiti said. Chris smiled, then leaned in for a kiss before orbing out of sight. Caiti looked at the window, catching Cole, Phoebe, and Paige, shook her head at them, then orbed up to bed. 


	18. Chapter Eighteen

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.  
  
Review Replies:  
  
cricketlover- if i truly thought that Chris is Wyatt from the future, i never would have had Chris and Caiti hook up. it reminds me too much of the movie Sleepwalkers. (if you've seen the movie, you will know what i mean, and even though Brian Krause was in it, it still makes me think ew ew ew) anyways, i don't think Chris is Wyatt, because he'd be able to recognize Leo as his dad. once again, guilty as charged. i have never actually been to a Hard Rock Café, but there is one in Pittsburgh at Station Square, and i might ask to go sometime when i'm there. thank you for the comments about overprotective Leo. i've personally never had my dad be that way, but i imagined that he will react that same way whenever i start dating, except that i'm not his only daughter, i'm his 4th! well, as always, keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying!  
  
A/N: sorry this took so long to get put up. school started up for me again on wednesday after a 24-day teacher's strike, and i was exhausted from trying to remember everything for school. this is the only time this will happen. i just needed a few days to recuperate. after all, you don't want me to keel over from exhaustion before the story gets finished, do you? also, what the hell happened to the words in the chapters? some of them have disappeared! if anyone could explain to me what's going on, i'd really appreciate it.  
  
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN  
  
Caiti woke up the morning after her date with Chris and smiled. She got out of bed and took a shower before orbing downstairs to the kitchen, dressed in her traditional jeans and a t-shirt outfit, today's t-shirt bearing a picture of Jim Morrison on it. Caiti picked up a copy of her old town's local paper, a subscription to which was a present from her other friends back home, and began to read the editorials. Caiti chuckled as she read one from a guy she knew regarding a teacher's strike. "Why can't they just force the school board into binding arbitration and get it over with?" she said quietly. "Maybe they're scared," said Cole, who had shimmered into the kitchen. Caiti thought about that for a moment, then said, "You used to be a lawyer, right?" "Yes," Cole said, a bit suspicious, "Why?" "Is it possible to force someone into binding arbitration?" Caiti asked. "Yeah, it is," Cole answered before sitting down at the table and picking up the local newspaper. "They're just being scared, whiny babies then," Caiti said, turning the pages of the paper until she reached "Annie's Mailbox," which had replaced Ann Landers in their paper. After she finished reading it, Caiti got up and went to the fridge, opened the door, and started looking around. "Watch out for that bottle in the back," Cole said as he watched Caiti rifle through the fridge, "Though it may look like hot sauce, it isn't." Caiti laughed and came out of the fridge balancing a box of eggs, 4 slices of cheese, and a stick of butter in her arms. "What are you doing?" Cole asked as Caiti took a plate out of the cupboard and arranged 4 slices of bread and the 4 slices of cheese on it, placing 1 slice of cheese on each piece of bread. Caiti smiled and said, "I'm making a family breakfast tradition. Fried egg sandwich with cheese," as she dug around for a frying pan and a spatula, and after finding them, began to fry the eggs, occasionally trying to defend herself with the spatula whenever the frying pan spit butter. Finally, the eggs were done, and Caiti was just sitting down to enjoy her sandwiches when her father, Piper, Paige, and Phoebe came downstairs. Paige looked at Caiti's shirt and said, "Nice. Not many kids your age know who Jim Morrison is. How did you get the t- shirt?" "My mom bought it for me," Caiti said, "It's actually a funny story." "Well," Phoebe said, "Enlighten us." "Well, we were in the Wal- Mart back home, and I was in the electronics section looking at the CD's, trying to pick out the one I wanted. I had some extra money that day. So, I find this Doors Greatest Hits CD, the new one, and I pick it up and look at the back, and I see that they have a song called 'Coronation of the Lizard' on it, and that it was previously unreleased. So I was thinking, maybe this is from the album that got banned, so I asked mom, and she said it was and that I couldn't buy the CD because it was on it. But then I said Kazaa Lite works in mysterious ways, and then she took me to a store called Terrapin Wax Works, which was one of my favorite stores in the mall back home and bought me this shirt instead." Paige laughed and said, "Were you really going to get the song?" "Yeah, I was," Caiti said thoughtfully, "But when mom decided to buy me the t-shirt instead, I changed my mind. I really wanted this shirt anyways." "What does it say?" Leo asked as he sat down at the table. Caiti pulled her the bottom of her shirt out and read, "An American Legend: Jim Morrison 1943-1971" "Well," Piper said, "We've got a long day ahead of us, so we might as well get a move on." "Wait a minute, Caiti said, "I forgot to ask you if I can leave the daycare during my lunchbreak." "Where would you be going?" Piper asked. "Chris is taking me out to lunch," Caiti said, "And I was going to ask you last night when I got home, but you were already asleep, unlike some people," she said, glancing around at Cole, Phoebe, and Paige. "OK!" Cole said with a little too much enthusiasm as he pushed Caiti towards the door, "Piper, just give her your consent, and she can leave." "So, can I?" Caiti asked. Piper nodded her head in consent, and Caiti said "Thanks," then ran out the door.  
  
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After lunch, Caiti walked back into the daycare center all smiles and sat down at the bar. "So, would I be right in assuming that it went well?" Piper asked. "You would be right," Caiti said, "It went very well, and we made plans for tonight, but I told him I had to ask you if you needed me to stay home with Wyatt for some reason first." "No," Piper said, "I don't need you to stay home and watch Wyatt, Paige is doing that tonight." "So when's my night?" Caiti asked. "It all depends," Piper said, "Is there a night when you and Chris aren't going out?" "Well," said Caiti with mock thoughtfulness, "I don't think we're going out tomorrow night." Then she laughed and said, "Just ask me whenever you need me to baby-sit and I will. And as a bonus, I'll do it for free. You won't have to pay me a cent!" Piper laughed as she walked over to pick Wyatt up and said, "I wasn't going to pay you for it anyways." "I meant you wouldn't have to pay me a cent more than you already do for working here with the band," Caiti said with a grin, "You already pay me once, I thought I'd make it clear that I knew that you wouldn't pay me again." "As long as we're on the same page," Piper said as she brought Wyatt over to the bar and sat him down on the counter. Wyatt saw Caiti and held his arms out to her. "Caici!" Wyatt cried with glee as Caiti picked him up and did a little dance with him before setting him back down on the bar. A baby cried somewhere near the middle of the room, and Piper said, "Well, back to work!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When the daycare closed for the evening, Caiti, Piper, and Wyatt were coming out of the club when Piper noticed Caiti's van parked near the entrance. "You drove that thing in public?" Piper asked with mock shock. Caiti laughed and said, "Well, I have to get around somehow!" "Me wide in Caici car!" Wyatt said. "If it's ok with Mommy," Caiti said, "Then it's OK with me." Piper nodded and said, "Go ahead. But do you have a car seat for him in there?" "Yep!" Caiti said, "Just put it in yesterday." Piper handed Wyatt to Caiti and Caiti put him in the car seat, hopped into the front seat, buckled her seatbelt, and drove away, while Piper got into her own car and drove off behind them. 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER

DISCLAIMER:  I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo.  (wink wink)  The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in months, but a lot of things have happened with my schoolwork and such, and I just didn't have the time.  Anyways, I also wanted to announce that due to recent events on Charmed, the current season never happened, except for what has already been mentioned in this story, and Piper and Leo's reconciliation, but Piper does NOT get pregnant; Caiti is the second sibling instead of Chris, and Chris is in no way, shape, or form related to any of the Charmed Ones or Cole, and he is just their new whitelighter.  In addition, the grandparents mentioned in the previous chapters by Chris are Caiti's stepfather's parents, not her mother's parents; this fact will become relevant in later chapters.  Also, because Caiti's mom told them everything after Caiti's stepfather died and was regretful about cheating on their son, they still treat Caiti like their own grandchild and are not upset about the situation.  Just giving some background so you all will get what's going on in the next few chapters.  Oh, and one more thing: Anytime you see a line of asterisks (*), it means a dream scene, and anything marked *FLASHBACK* is a flashback to something earlier in the story.  Enjoy the next chapter, and please forgive me for taking so long to update by reviewing with your questions, comments, and complaints!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

            "Caiti, I've told you already, I don't think that it's a good idea for you to be going out with him."

            "But Dad!" Caiti protested.  She had come home 15 minutes before, and had been in the living room for the past ten minutes, arguing rather loudly with Leo over her date with Chris that night.

            "Don't 'but dad' me Caitlin," Leo said sternly.  "I mean it.  You're not going out with Chris tonight and that's final!"

            "Give me one good reason why I can't go out with Chris," Caiti said.

            "You, uh, you have to baby-sit Wyatt," Leo said, trying to think up a logical-sounding response.

            "Piper said that Paige was watching Wyatt tonight," Caiti said, crossing her hands over her chest, knowing that her dad would be unable to give her a concrete, logical reason why she couldn't go out with Chris.  

            "I just don't think it's a good idea," Leo repeated exasperatedly.  

            Caiti looked at her father suspiciously.  She had only been living with her father and his new family for a week, but she could tell when he was hiding something from her.  "Is there something you're not telling me Dad?"

            "It's just that, well…" Leo hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words.  "About six or seven months ago, when I became an Elder, Chris did something to me that landed me in Valhalla, and I'm worried that he'll do the same thing to you."

            "You're worried that Chris will send me off to some ancient island of the gods?" Caiti said with a look of disbelief on her face, now convinced that her dad was completely insane.

            "Yeah, that's pretty much it," Leo said.

            Caiti grinned.  "Well then, maybe he can send me back to ancient Greece so I can meet Young Hercules.  That Ryan Gosling's pretty darn cute."

            Leo didn't smile.  It was obvious that Caiti was not taking him seriously.  "Caiti, I'm being serious.  I don't want you going out with him tonight.  Or ever, for that matter."

            Caiti's grin faded.  "You're forbidding me to see him?  Is that it?"

            "It's for your own good Caiti," Leo said.

            By this time, the yelling had gotten so loud that Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Cole-who had just shimmered in and had followed the noise to the living room-were all standing in the doorway listening.

            "Well, that's what the Elders said when you and Piper got together, but you didn't listen, now did you dad?" Caiti snapped.

            "That was different," Leo said, worried about how angry Caiti was getting.  "Piper and I were in love.  You've only known Chris for a week!"

"You're just bitter," Caiti complained.

            "Bitter?  I have a right to be bitter over my daughter-my ONLY daughter, for that matter-dating the guy that sent me away from my family for almost seven months!" Leo argued.

            "Well, I'm positive that he won't do that to me," Caiti argued back.  "Why won't you just trust me?  I'm not a little kid."

            "Why won't you try to understand where I'm coming from on this Caiti?  I'm trying to be a good father!"

            "WELL IF YOU WANTED TO BE A GOOD FATHER, YOU WOULD'VE STARTED A BIT EARLIER!!!!!!" Caiti screamed.

            Suddenly, Caiti felt the anger in her start to rise higher than it had previously during the course of the argument.  She felt herself begin to hyperventilate and her jaw begin to clench tightly.  She felt herself rise into the air.  Caiti knew what was happening, and she also knew that try as she might, she couldn't control it, not yet at least.  She felt the explosion, felt the force of it blowing through her, and saw the force of it knock her father off his feet and into the wall-well, through the wall and into the sunroom.  Suddenly, the blowing force ceased, and Caiti was standing on the ground again.  

            Caiti looked at her father with a horrified expression on her face and orbed up to her room as quickly as she could, before he could see her cry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            When Caiti arrived in her room, she immediately flung herself onto her bed and began to cry.  How could everything have gone so wrong?  

            "It hasn't even been a month, and already I've hurt someone close to me," Caiti thought, "If things keep going this way, who am I going to hurt next?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Cole rushed into the room to help Leo as soon as Caiti had orbed out.  Cole offered Leo his hand and said, "You ok?"

            Leo took Cole's hand and stood up slowly.  "Yeah, I think so."  He made his way over to the couch, assisted by Piper and Paige, and sat down with Piper and Paige on either side of him.  Phoebe sat down in a chair across from Leo, and Cole stood behind Phoebe's chair.

            "What happened?" Phoebe asked, curious as to what started the argument that ended in the power burst.

            Leo sighed sadly and said, "I told her she couldn't go out with Chris tonight.  She had asked me if it was OK, and I said no.  I was treating her like a little kid, and she completely called me on it because I couldn't give her a decent reason why she couldn't go.  So I told her about what Chris did, and she joked about asking him to send her to ancient Greece, something about Young Hercules."

            Paige grinned and said, "I know what she means.  That Ryan Gosling is pretty darn cute."  Piper gave Paige a dirty look, though, which prevented her from saying anything else on the subject.

            "Anyways, I got a bit upset about her being so light on the subject, and I forbid her to see Chris."

            "Big mistake," Phoebe muttered under her breath.  "They always rebel when you say that."  Phoebe was speaking from experience, remembering how she acted when Piper and Prue had told her that she couldn't see Cole anymore.

            "She got really defensive, and I told her it was for her own good.  That's when she called me on the fact that Piper and I had gone against orders, even after the Elders had said the exact same thing to us that I said to her.  I told her it was different, and she said I was bitter about what Chris had done.  I said I had a right to be bitter about it, considering the circumstances.  She said that she was positive he wouldn't do that to her, and asked why I wouldn't trust her.  I said I was trying to be a good father, and then she said that if I really wanted to be a good father to her, I would've started earlier." Leo sighed again when he finished.  "And then it happened.  So fast…I didn't see it coming until it was already happening, and I don't think Caiti saw it coming either.  One minute I was arguing with my daughter, the next I'm laying on the floor in the sunroom.  That's how it happened."

            "Where is she now?" Piper asked.

            "Last I saw her, she was orbing out of the room with this look of complete terror on her face.  She looked so scared," Leo said.  Then he remembered what Caiti had said about an event similar to this one, involving her mother, and a possible reason for the terrified expression on her face…

*FLASHBACK*

**        "The first time I did it, I.I." Caiti hesitated before continuing.  
"What happened?" Piper asked gently.  
"I hurt my mom," Caiti whispered, "She came into the study, where I was playing dolls, just as the burst itself happened, and she was knocked backwards. She got bruised up pretty badly, and she also had hit her head on a corner of a desk and cut her forehead.  She never treated me the same way after that…"**

*END FLASHBACK*

            "She's worried about what we'll do," Leo said.

            "What do you mean?" Paige asked, clueless as to what her brother-in-law was thinking.

            A look of dawning recognition and understanding passed over Phoebe's face as she read her brother-in-law and her older sister, the only way she figured that she and Paige would find out what was up.

            "This isn't the first time it's happened, is it?" Phoebe asked quietly.  "It happened once before, with her mother, didn't it?  Her mother treated her like an outcast for a while after that, didn't she?"

            Leo and Piper nodded.  Phoebe's being an empath was annoying at times, but this time it was dead on.  Everyone was quiet for a few minutes while the information set in.  It was Cole-silently listening the entire time-who broke the silence.

            "So," he said.  "Who's gonna be the one who goes to find her?"

            Piper looked at the stairwell, appeared to be considering something quite intently, and said:

"I think I know where she is." 

************************************************************************

            _Caiti opened her eyes.  It was obvious to her that she had been asleep for a while, because the sky outside her window was dark, and it had been daylight when the burst occurred.  She sat up on her bed and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, and was surprised to see that she was wearing all black.  "That's weird," Caiti said to herself.  She stood up and walked out of her room and down the stairs.  She could hear a noise coming from the sunroom, a noise that sounded like someone crying.  Caiti walked into the sunroom to find flowers everywhere and her aunts, stepmother, half-brother, Chris, and Cole all dressed in black, standing around what looked suspiciously like a coffin.   _

_"What happened?" Caiti asked the group.  "Who died?"_

_"See for yourself," Piper whispered, with a hint of bitterness in her voice._

_Caiti nervously walked closer and closer to the cluster, and saw that they were, indeed, standing around a coffin, the lid of which was closed.  She stopped in front of the coffin and-bracing herself-opened the lid.  She looked inside and screamed.  It was her father._

_            "No," Caiti whispered, backing away from the open coffin.  "He can't be dead, he's a whitelighter, and the only thing that can kill him is a darklighter's arrow."_

_            "But you did, Caiti, you did," whispered Phoebe in an unnaturally sinister voice.  "You killed him." _

_            "No, I didn't kill him, I swear!" Caiti said, now backing away slowly as the group closed ranks around her._

_            "Of course you would deny it," Piper said, speaking in the same voice as her sister.  _

_            "It's only natural to deny a dark deed like this one Caiti," added Cole.  "I've done it many times before this, and now you have too…you've become evil, Caiti."_

_            "And you know what that means," said Chris sadly._

_            "We have to vanquish you Caiti," said Paige.  "It's the only way."_

_            "NO!!!!" Caiti screamed, but it was too late.  Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were reciting a spell, the words of which were unintelligible to Caiti, and then they each pulled a potion out from behind their backs.  Piper threw hers first, then Phoebe, then Paige._

_            At first it felt like a slight burning sensation to Caiti, then a little more painful, then a little more.  Suddenly Caiti saw the flames surround her body, felt herself about to burst, and knew that this was the end.  She stole a glance at the coffin, and noticed that it was empty.  She looked at the group watching her burn, and noticed her father standing among them, his eyes filling with tears.  Caiti screamed "No!"  loudly one last time, and then it was all over_………

************************************************************************

            "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

            Piper heard the first scream and rushed into her stepdaughter's room, where she discovered Caiti fast asleep, kicking on her bed and screaming the word "No" and "I didn't kill him, Piper, I didn't kill Dad, I promise" over and over again.  Piper ran to the bed, grabbed Caiti by the shoulders, and began to shake her gently, saying "Wake up Caiti, wake up.  It's only a dream!  You're only dreaming!" over and over again.

************************************************************************

_            As her body dissipated, Caiti heard a voice calling to her, saying "Wake up Caiti, wake up.  It's only a dream!  You're only dreaming!" over and over again.  Not knowing what else to do, she opened her eyes_………

************************************************************************

            Caiti opened her eyes suddenly and looked up at Piper with the same look of terror her father had seen earlier.  She turned her head to see out her window, and realized it was still light out, then looked down at her clothing to see it was the same as it had been earlier.  Realizing that she was awake, Caiti began to shake uncontrollably, and began to cry.  Piper sat on Caiti's bed and rocked her back and forth as she would do to calm Wyatt down, and calmly kept telling Caiti, "It was only a dream.  It was only a dream."

            "You're wrong," thought Caiti as she cried.  "It was my worst nightmare."


	20. Chapter Twenty

CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER

Disclaimer: I do not-even though I really, really want to-own Charmed. I own Caiti, her friends, her mom, and this plotline. Steal them from me, face prosecution. It's that simple.

A/N: I finally figured out how to fix the spacing problem! Go me! And in the process of fixing the spacing problem, I fixed my problem with the formatting! Go me again! So from now on, anything in bold is a flashback (and will be marked so as before), and anything in italics (still with the asterisk break as before) is a dream scene. Also, I went into this story a few moments ago, reading it over to make sure everything clicked, and I realized I messed up with the grandparents thing. The heritage is still as it was mentioned in the review reply to cricketlover, but they are her paternal grandparents (her stepdad's parents, as mentioned before), not maternal, and the last name was Anglicized to Dorian. Everything else still holds. Points to the story below the review replies Now, keep reading! Do it! laughs

ChRsTiNe17- Glad you like the story, and thank you for reviewing. Keep reading and enjoying. There are 19 more chapters of Charmed goodness for you! Don't forget to review!

lil-whitelighter111488- Will do! On one condition: you keep reading and reviewing! Do we have a deal?

CHAPTER TWENTY

Caiti cried for what seemed like hours, but she later learned that it had only been about half an hour. When she finally finished crying, Piper handed her a tissue box and said, "You feeling any better?"

Caiti shook her head. "It was awful Piper, completely horrible."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Caiti thought about this for a moment, remembering how when she was little, her mother had always said that talking about bad dreams helped. She nodded her head.

"OK then, what happened?" Piper asked. "You can take as much time as you need." By this time, Leo had orbed in and was standing in the doorway, unseen by Caiti.

"Well, in the dream, I woke up in my room. I must have cried myself to sleep, because when I looked out the window, it was dark out. I sat up in bed and caught a look at myself in the mirror, and I was wearing a black dress, which I hadn't been wearing before. I commented on how weird that was, and then I went downstairs. Everyone was in the sunroom, but I couldn't see Dad. You were all wearing black and standing around something that looked like a coffin. I asked who had died, and you said 'See for yourself'. You sounded really upset. Anyways, I went to the coffin and opened the lid, and…" Caiti paused, suddenly unable to speak as the memory of the dream came rushing back…

_Caiti nervously walked closer and closer to the cluster, and saw that they were, indeed, standing around a coffin, the lid of which was closed. She stopped in front of the coffin and-bracing herself-opened the lid. She looked inside and screamed. It was her father._

__

"Who did you see inside the coffin Caiti?" Piper asked gently, not wanting to press her too hard for the information.

"I saw Dad. I screamed, and said that he couldn't be dead, no one had shot him with any darklighter arrows. Then Phoebe said that I did kill him, and you said that of course I would deny it. Then Cole said I had become evil, and then Chris said 'And you know what that means…' He sounded really sad, like something bad was going to happen." Caiti stopped again, not wanting to continue. She happened then to look at the door, and saw her father standing in the doorway watching her, completely fine. Piper nodded to Leo, and he came into the room and sat down next to Caiti on her bed.

"What happened next Caiti?" he asked quietly.

"I don't want to continue." Caiti said. "It's too horrible to talk about. But I could show you."

"How are you going to do that?" Piper asked, puzzled. She looked at Leo, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

Caiti turned away from the mirror, facing the empty wall on the left side of her bed. She stared at it for a bit, as if concentrating on something. After a few moments, her eyes flashed green and a light poured from them onto the wall, forming a picture, the remnants of Caiti's nightmare. Caiti returned to normal, and then said, "Watch." Leo and Piper turned their attention to the left wall and watched the rest of Caiti's nightmare unfold.

_ "We have to vanquish you Caiti," said Paige. "It's the only way."_

_ "NO!!!!" Caiti screamed, but it was too late. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were reciting a spell, the words of which were unintelligible to Caiti, and then they each pulled a potion out from behind their backs. Piper threw hers first, then Phoebe, then Paige._

_ At first it felt like a slight burning sensation to Caiti, then a little more painful, then a little more. Suddenly Caiti saw the flames surround her body, felt herself about to burst, and knew that this was the end. She stole a glance at the coffin, and noticed that it was empty. She looked at the group watching her burn, and noticed her father standing among them, his eyes filling with tears. Caiti screamed "No!" loudly one last time, and then it was all over…_

Piper gasped and Leo whispered "Oh my god" as they watched their respective dream-selves stand in the crowd and watch as the other vanquished Caiti. The dream that had been playing out in front of them vanished as soon as it had finished, leaving the two adults speechless.

During this time, Caiti had been sitting between them, watching her nightmare and trying not to cry, but by the time the dream had ended, a few tears were falling, and Caiti was on the verge of breaking down completely.

Leo put his arms around his daughter and said; "We'd never let that happen to you, never. Even if something like that did happen, we'd never accuse you of being evil. Sometimes things happen that you can't control."

"Like Cole becoming evil again," Piper said, remembering a time not that long ago when Cole had been crowned the new Source.

"Anyways, the point is, if you ever did become evil, we'd try to help you, and-if possible-we'd do everything we could to cure it," finished Leo. Suddenly, he tilted his head, the way he had a week before, and said, "I've gotta go…Elders are calling." He let go of Caiti and walked toward the door. When he reached the door, he turned to his daughter and said, "There's one more thing, Caiti. It's about Chris."

Caiti groaned and said, "What now? Did we not already have this argument?"

Leo smiled at his daughter's ability to jump to the wrong conclusion and said, "I was just going to tell you to have fun on your date tonight."

Caiti broke into a grin and said, "Thanks. I will." She laughed at her stupidity as she watched her father orb out of the room to wherever he went when the Elders called him. She then turned to Piper and said, "So, what now?"

"Well, I guess we get you ready for your date tonight!" Piper said.

"You really want to help?" Caiti asked, shocked.

"Yeah," Piper said. "I may be a mother, but I still remember how exciting it was to get ready for my dates. And since your mother can't be here to help you get ready, I thought that I would be a fitting substitute."

"You thought right," Caiti said, grinning. "So, what should I wear?"

Sorry this was such a short chapter, but I've been trying to collect my thoughts and such, so this one ended up pretty short. But have no fear, after I post this one, I'm gonna write the next two chapters, and post the next one. There's gonna be a time jump after the next two chapters, and it will include some very important events. This was kind of just a filler chapter.


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